Turkish Premier says Israel to face reciprocal behavior from Turkey
The Turkish prime minister said on Tuesday that Israel would face a reciprocal stance from Turkey if it continued to assume its actual attitude towards Turkey, Anadolu Agency reported.
Turkey's Premier Recep Tayyip Erdogan told reporters that if the Israeli administration continued to assume its actual stance, Turkey would always give a reciprocal response.
Erdogan's remarks came after Israeli Foreign Ministry expressed uneasiness over a popular Turkish TV series, "Kurtlar Vadisi" (The Valley of the Wolves), through diplomatic channels.
Premier Erdogan said Turkey had always showed tolerance to the Israeli people and the Jews.
Erdogan referred to recent statement of the Turkish Foreign Ministry and said he did not want to elaborate on this matter too much.
"That Israel has a coalition government in office right now does not bind Turkey, it is their domestic problem," he said.
Erdogan also said that Turkey could not tolerate a statement just because it had been made by a member of an extreme political party.
On Monday, Israeli Foreign Ministry expressed uneasiness over a popular Turkish TV series, "Kurtlar Vadisi" (The Valley of The Wolves), through diplomatic channels. Turkish Ambassador in Tel Aviv Oguz Celikkol was summoned to Israeli Foreign Ministry. Israeli diplomats said the TV drama had contained anti-Israel messages.
At a meeting with Lebanese Prime Minister Saad Hariri the same day in Ankara, Turkish Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan criticized Israel for its offensive against Gaza and for violating UN resolutions. He said Israel never denied that it possessed nuclear weapons, calling on the five permanent members of the UN security Council to be fair, and follow up on nuclear weapons of Israel, just like they did with Iran.
In response to Erdogan's remarks, Israeli Foreign Ministry said in a statement that Israel respected Turkey and was interested in continued normal relations between the two states, but expected the Turkish side to reciprocate with a similar approach towards Israel.
Earlier on Tuesday, Israeli Ambassador to Turkey Gabby Levy was summoned to the Turkish Foreign Ministry for an explanation over Israel's recent statements criticizing Turkey.
At a meeting with Foreign Ministry Undersecretary Feridun Sinirlioglu, Israeli envoy Gabby Levy was asked about recent statement issued by Israeli Foreign Ministry that strongly criticized Turkish Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan after his remarks over Israeli offensive against Gaza.
Turkish diplomats also expressed uneasiness over media reports after Turkish Ambassador in Tel Aviv Oguz Celikkol's meeting with Israeli Deputy Foreign Minister Danny Ayalon and also the statement made by Israeli Foreign Ministry Spokesperson Yossi Levy.
Also, the Turkish Foreign Ministry released a statement earlier on Tuesday in which it strongly condemned the statements of the Israeli Foreign Ministry.
The Turkish ministry defined Israeli Foreign Ministry's statements as remarks that were made for domestic political concerns and that went far beyond the limits.
"Turks have extended a helping hand to the Jews whenever they faced trouble throughout the history, and the long history of co-existence of Turks and Jews is a history of mutual respect and tolerance," the statement said.
The statement said allegations that anti-Semitism in Turkey were provoked were baseless.
"Our historical file and the remarks of our Prime Minister that anti-Semitism is a crime of humanity are the most clear evidence that these allegations are baseless," the statement also said. (BRC-CE)
