Diplomatic scandal breaks out between Turkey and Israel

PanARMENIAN.Net - Turkish-Israeli relations have been strained since Israel's deadly offensive in the Gaza Strip, having seen exchanges of harsh remarks between Israeli and Turkish officials and crisis incidents despite efforts to tone town the crisis atmosphere.

Nonetheless, Monday and Tuesday's diplomatic kerfuffle between the two sides was an exception, since the way Çelikkol was treated by Israeli Deputy Foreign Minister Danny Ayalon introduced an unprecedented example of diplomatic rudeness.



Chronologically, the incident started when Ayalon summoned Çelikkol to the Knesset on Monday afternoon to express outrage over an episode of the popular Turkish television series, "Valley of the Wolves: Ambush," which depicted Israeli intelligence service Mossad agents spying inside Turkey and kidnapping Turkish babies. At the beginning of the meeting, Ayalon was seen telling the cameramen to film him and his aide sitting on tall chairs, and Çelikkol on a lower chair, with the Israeli flag in the middle.



The ambassador was also filmed waiting in a corridor for the meeting to begin, and when it did, he was offered nothing to drink or eat.



In Ankara, during the same hours on Monday afternoon, at a joint press conference with visiting Lebanese Prime Minister Saad Hariri, Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdoğan lashed out at Israel for violating Lebanon's airspace and using disproportionate force against Palestinians in Gaza.



Israel's response came shortly afterwards, with officials slamming Erdoğan's "unbridled attack" and accusing him of seeking to harm ties. "Israel reserves the right to protect its citizens against rocket attacks and terrorism by Hamas and Hizbullah. Turkey is the last country that should preach morality to Israel and to the Israel Defense Forces," a statement by Israeli Foreign Ministry spokesperson Yossi Levy said.



At the end of the tense Knesset meeting, pictures taken during the meeting between Ayalon and Çelikkol -- ostensibly showing the latter purposefully embarrassed -- marked the end of the longest two days between Israel and Turkey.

Israel's Ambassador to Turkey Gabby Levy was summoned to the Foreign Ministry on Tuesday morning and ordered to explain both the way Çelikkol was treated and Yossi Levy's statement, which explicitly blamed Turkey for being "immoral."



Turkish Foreign Ministry Undersecretary Feridun Sinirlioğlu, who was formerly Turkey's ambassador to Israel, told Ambassador Levy that the treatment of Çelikkol was an "unacceptable impudence," and that "everybody should know their place."



Turkish diplomatic sources, speaking on condition of anonymity, told Today's Zaman that the ministry is considering recalling Çelikkol to Ankara for consultations.



Turkey rejected an Israeli attempt Wednesday to make amends for humiliating its ambassador, and threatened to bring its envoy home if Israel didn't deliver an apology by the evening.



Deputy Foreign Minister Danny Ayalon issued a statement criticizing his own undiplomatic behavior, which included forcing Turkish Ambassador Ahmet Oguz Celikkol to sit on a lower seat and not shaking his hand. But the statement fell short of an apology and failed to defuse a diplomatic feud that has further strained ties between the once-close allies.



"They have been given time until tonight, they either fix it or our ambassador will head for Turkey on the first flight tomorrow" for consultations, Turkish President Abdullah Gul said. "After that, we will make an evaluation."