Turkish PM Hoisted on Own Gaza Flotilla Petard

Leo Rennert
American Thinker
27 July '10

Since at least the beginning of 2009, the Islamic government of Turkey under Prime Minister Erdogan has ratcheted up its fierce anti-Israel propaganda, a hostile pattern climaxed by the Turkish flotilla's attempt to breach Israel's blockade of Hamas-ruled Gaza in May -- an operation that resulted in the death of nine members of a terrorist-linked Turkish group who beat, stabbed and shot Israeli commandos as they boarded one of the vessels.

Erdogan, who has veered toward an anti-Western alignment with Syria and Iran, unleashed a torrent of invective against Israel and threatened to break off diplomatic relations unless he gets a formal apology -- which Israel refused, citing the violent provocations of Turkish militants aboard the flotilla.

At the same time, however, Erdogan's regime has come under increasing fire -- at home and abroad. There has been growing criticism of Erdogan in American and European capitals for pursuing a radical foreign policy, while supporters of Turkey's persecuted Kurdish minority have become highly vocal in spotlighting Ankara's shameful human-rights record. There also has been a rising chorus of concerns that Turkey, as NATO's eastern anchor, may become more of a liability to the alliance than a reliable security partner .

Enters now a coalition of pro-Greek organizations, joining in the anti-Erdogan backlash via a full-page ad in the Sunday, July 25, edition of the New York Times , headlined: "TIME FOR TURKEY TO 'FLOTILLA' ITS TROOPS OFF CYPRUS AND END 36 YEARS OF OCCUPATION."

The ad spotlights Turkey's brutal occupation of part of the island since its invasion 36 years ago, dividing it between a Greek Cypriot republic recognized internationally and a rump Turkish-Cypriot republic recognized only by Turkey.

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