TruthNews

Flotilla Fallout Includes US-Turkey Rift, Delay On Iran Sanctions

International Christian Embassy Jerusalem, June 5, 2010

In continuing fallout from the IDF’s interception of the hostile Gaza flotilla on Monday, Turkey is threatening to "minimize" relations with Israel, while strains are also showing in US-Turkish relations, causing a serious setback in the effort to confront Iran over its renegade nuclear program at the United Nations.

Turkey, a rotating member of the UN Security Council, has strongly opposed a US proposal for a fourth round of diplomatic and economic sanctions on Iran, recently working with fellow temporary member Brazil to broker a uranium exchange deal with Iran that many in the West saw as a blatant stalling tactic.

A senior official in the US State Department who has been privy to the consultations with the Turkish government said that the US still thinks "it’s necessary to continue to apply pressure in order to get the ultimate result that we seek, which is Iran to be far more forthcoming than they’ve been willing to be so far in revealing the true nature of their nuclear program."

"Turkey is now freer to vote with its heart on Iran sanctions, which means that Turkish-US relations are heading towards a major crisis if we don’t end up defusing the storm gathering over Iran sanctions," Soner Cagaptay of the Washington Institute for Near East Policy told The Jerusalem Post on Thursday.

"Citizens of member states were attacked by a country that is not a member of NATO. I think you can make some conclusions out of this statement," said Turkish Ministry of Foreign Affairs Ahmet Davutoglu before a meeting Tuesday with US Secretary of State Hillary Clinton.

Meantime, Turkey’s deputy Prime Minister Bulent Arinc said on Friday that Ankara is reassessing its security and economic cooperation with Israel. "We may plan to reduce our relations with Israel to a minimum, but to assume everything involving another country is stopped in an instant... is not the custom of our state," he added in an NTV broadcast.

Ankara's media also claimed that Turkey is seeking an official probe of the incident by the International Criminal Court in The Hague. The petition is to cite violation of maritime laws by Israel and seek damages for the families of those killed or injured.

"We are serious on this issue. New cooperation will not start and relations with Israel will be reduced," insisted Arinc.

So far this week, Turkey recalled its ambassador to Israel and cancelled planned military exercises with Israel. Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan called the IDF operation "inhumane state terrorism," and President Abdullah Gul said relations with Israel would "never be the same again."