Israel-Turkey relations deteriorate as FM seeks to recall envoy in Ankara

[bemildred]

Senior officials in his own ministry say Foreign Minister Avigdor Lieberman is trying to foil the scheduled visit of Defense Minister Ehud Barak to Ankara following renewed tensions in relations between the two countries. Barak is scheduled to travel to Turkey on Sunday for an official visit in which he will meet with Turkey's defense and foreign ministers.

The Foreign Ministry officials made the comments over Lieberman's instructions yesterday to respond harshly to the broadcast of an episode of a Turkish television series that was full of anti-Israeli messages and to vitriol from Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan. "There's a feeling Lieberman wants to heat things up before Barak's visit to Turkey," a senior Foreign Ministry official said. "Everything that took place yesterday was part of Lieberman's political agenda."

Barak and his labor colleague, Minister of Industry and Trade Benjamin Ben-Eliezer, have been trying to mend relations with Turkey, and the Turks are expected to greet them with an exceptionally warm welcome for Barak as a message to Lieberman, said ministry sources.

Lieberman has declared he will never accept Turkey as a mediator in talks with Syria. According to Channel 1 news, Lieberman suggested to Netanyahu that Israel should recall its envoy in Ankara, but the prime minister vetoed the idea.

http://www.haaretz.com/hasen/spages/1142050.html

[Scurrilous]

1. Israel media splashes 'hazing' of Turkish envoy

<snip>

"Israeli newspapers on Tuesday played up what they called the "hazing" of Turkey's ambassador by Israel, in an incident likely to ratchet up already high tensions between the two allies.

Press reports highlighted the fact that Deputy Foreign Minister Danny Ayalon made Ambassador Ahmet Celikkol sit on a low couch while the Israelis sat on high chairs, as he reprimanded the envoy over a Turkish television thriller which portrays Israeli Mossad agents as baby-snatchers.

The incident mirrored the deterioration in ties since Israel's devastating offensive in Gaza one year ago, which stirred blunt criticism from Turkey, with Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan again lashing out at Israel on Monday.

But it also came ahead of a planned visit to Turkey by Israeli Defence Minister Ehud Barak on Sunday."

more

[azurnoir]

2. Turkish official: Top Israel diplomats behaved like 'adolescents'

A Turkish official denounced Israel's top two diplomats on Tuesday as "adolescent youths" for deliberately seating Ankara's envoy on a lower chair during than that of Deputy Foreign Minister Danny Ayalon during a consultation on Monday.

In response, Ayalon summoned the Turkish ambassador to Israel, Ahmet Oguz Celikkol, for consultations.
During the meeting, Celikkol was seated in a low sofa, and facing him, in higher chairs, were Ayalon and two other officials - an arrangement carried out on the orders of Ayalon's superior, Foreign Minister Avigdor Lieberman.

A photo-op was held at the start of the meeting, during which Ayalon told the photographers in Hebrew: "Pay attention that he is sitting in a
lower chair and we are in the higher ones, that there is only an Israeli flag on the table and that we are not smiling."

Celikkol's associates told Army Radio on Tuesday, that the meeting with Ayalon was the most shameful display he had seen in 35 years as a diplomat.

According to the associates, Celikkol had no idea what the topic of conversation was to be when first seated. When the cameras left the room, the sources said, the meeting was normal and professional.

http://www.haaretz.com/hasen/spages/1142115.html

[Scurrilous]

3. Turkey summons Israeli ambassador

Envoy to Ankara Gabby Levy summoned over reprimand meeting between Deputy Foreign Minister Daniel Ayalon and Turkish ambassador to Israel. Turkish FM says government discussing incident, to publish response shortly. Meanwhile, industry, trade, labor minister called Ayalon's behavior 'undignified'

http://www.ynetnews.com/articles/0,7340,L-3833276,00.html

<snip>

"Israeli ambassador in Ankara, Gabby Levy, was summoned for a meeting in the Turkish Foreign Ministry following Monday's humiliating reprimand meeting between Deputy Foreign Ministry Daniel Ayalon and the Turkish ambassador to Israel.

A senior element in the Turkish Foreign Ministry told the wide-circulating Hurriyet newspaper that Ankara does not intend on treating the Israeli ambassador the same way in which Deputy Foreign Minister Daniel Ayalon treated the Turkish envoy.

He noted that the meeting will not include a public reprimand, will not be attended by journalists and cameramen will not be allowed in the room. "Turkey is a serious country and will not behave in the same rude manner towards Ambassador Levy or any other country."

A different ministry element joked that in any case Foreign Ministry undersecretary Feridun Sinirlioglu is taller than Levy and therefore would not require a higher seat. "When they face eachother Sinirlioglu is looking down on him," he noted."