11 - 17 April 2002
Issue No.581
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Al-Ahram Weekly Online 11 - 17 April 2002 Issue No.581 |
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Payback time
The Jewish and Turkish lobbies in the US wasted no time in responding to Turkish Prime Minister Bulent Ecevit's criticism of Israel. Gareth Jenkins reports from Ankara
Amid growing public anger at the brutality of the Israeli offensive against the Palestinians, Turkish Prime Minister Bulent Ecevit was forced into a humiliating climb-down last week after his description of the Israeli attacks as "genocide" provoked a furious reaction from the powerful Jewish lobby in the US.
Last Thursday, in a speech to parliamentary members of his Democratic Left Party (DLP), Ecevit declared: "A genocide is being carried out against the Palestinian people before the eyes of the world."
Ecevit's words drew a swift reaction from the Jewish lobby in the US. In recent years American Jews have regularly lobbied the US government on Turkey's behalf, particularly on issues such as arms transfers and the Armenian campaign for international recognition of the 1915 massacres and deportation of Armenians by the Ottomans as a genocide.
After Ecevit's speech Rachel Krespin of the American Association of Jewish Friends of Turkey sent him an open letter, pointedly reminding him of the US Jewish lobby's "vigorous anti-Armenian, anti-Greek, anti-Kurd campaigns here in America on behalf of Turkey."
"Israel and the Jewish people around the world have faithfully stood by Turkey through all her battles and campaigns, both military and political. And you, Mr Ecevit, have betrayed Israel." Krespin added.
Turkish organisations in the US moved quickly to criticise Ecevit. In a letter sent to members of the Jewish lobby in the US, Mahmut Ozan of the US-based Turkish Forum condemned what he described as: "the utterly irresponsible bungling, blunder, slip-up, faux pas, folly, misjudgment and the miscarriage of justice all committed by one opinionated Turkish prime minister called Bulent Ecevit. Neither Ecevit nor anyone else can destroy a five centuries-old Turkish Jewish friendship and the sense of brotherhood we all share."
On Friday, Ecevit himself was forced to backtrack, expressing his "regret" at using the term genocide and implausibly claiming that he had been talking not about the current situation but the possible future consequences of Israeli action.
"My speech touched upon the grave results the events in the Middle East could lead to," he said. "My words reflected the anxiety felt in our country and our region. We attach great importance to our relations with Israel."
But Ecevit's retraction did not reflect the public mood in Turkey. Traditionally Turks have felt little sympathy for the Arabs, whom they have still not forgiven for seeking independence from the Ottoman Empire. But over the last week historical prejudices have been submerged by horror and outrage at the ongoing Israeli onslaught in Palestine. Last weekend, despite torrential rain, thousands of demonstrators from across the Turkish political spectrum took to the streets throughout the country to protest against the Israeli offensive.
Many of the demonstrators called on the Turkish government to downgrade its military ties with Israel. Since 1997 the two countries have staged several joint military exercises and shared intelligence. Israeli pilots frequently use Turkish airspace for training and Israeli companies have been awarded a string of lucrative defence industry contracts.
On 29 March Ankara announced that it had awarded a $688 million contract to upgrade 170 of Turkey's aging M-60 tanks to the Israeli defence company Israel Military Industries (IMI). Opposition politicians have called on the government to cancel the contract.
"Israeli troops invade Palestinian territories and hold Arafat hostage and the government presents them with nearly $700 million," complained Recai Kutan of the Islamist Felicity Party.
"The critical factor in our decision to choose IMI was technology," responded Dursun Ali Ercan, the head of the Defence Industry Undersecretariat. "We could not get the right technology from the Americans."
"The signing of the agreement is the result of a long-term process. One shouldn't link it to the current crisis in the Middle East," said Colonel Tamer Buyukkantarcioglu, general secretary at the Turkish Ministry of Defence.
But privately sources close to the Turkish military admit that IMI is now also the favourite to win a forthcoming contract to build 250 main battle tanks for the Turkish army, the first part of a planned procurement of 1,000 new tanks at an estimated cost of $7 billion.
"We don't like what is happening in Palestine," said a source close to the military. "But in the past the Israelis have provided us with intelligence on Kurdish separatists and they have a very advanced defence industry. Unlike the Europeans or, to a lesser extent, the Americans, the Israelis never refuse to sell us something because of human rights problems. At the moment the Turkish public is very angry. But that anger will subside when the killing stops and in the long-term we expect our military ties with Israel to continue."
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