Lieberman Associate: Turkey Should Compensate Israel

Defiant message: Apologizing to Turkey over flotilla incident would mark capitulation to terror, close associate of Foreign Minister Lieberman says; Turkey is the one that should apologize, pay compensation, he says.

A close associate of Foreign Minister Avigdor Lieberman said Tuesday that "an apology to Turkey is like surrendering to terror," adding that Ankara should compensate Israel over the flotilla incident and not vice versa.

The remark was made in response to statements made earlier by Israeli officials that the aid offered by Turkey as part of the firefighting efforts in the Carmel opened the door for improvement of relations with Ankara.

According to the minister's close associates, from Lieberman's perspective an Israeli apology is out of the question.

"If anyone needs to apologize it's Turkey and it should pay compensation for the aid offered to terrorists and the IHH, which some European countries including Germany, consider as a terror organization," one source said.
On Monday, Turkish Foreign Ministry Undersecretary Feridun Sinirlioğlu and Yosef Ciechanover, the Israeli representative to the UN committee probing Israel’s deadly raid on a Gaza-bound flotilla met for the second time in two days in a bid to revive bilateral ties, the Turkish daily Hurriyet reported.
A Turkish diplomatic source told the newspaper, "If someone extends us a friendly hand for a solution to problems, we do not leave that hand in the air."

However, earlier Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan made it clear that Turkey’s decision to send two firefighting planes to Israel to assist in battling the Carmel blaze does not attest to improved ties with the Jewish state.

This step must not be confused with other problems we have with Israel,” the Turkish PM said, repeating his regular list of demands, uttered often in the wake of the Gaza-bound flotilla affair.

“Our demands of them are known by now,” he said. “The ties between us will not improve until they officially apologize and compensate us.”

Apology to Erdogan? Not anytime!

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Lieberman: We Don't Want to End Up Like Czechoslovakia

FM tells counterparts Kouchner, Moratinos Europe's pressure on Israel attempt to make up for failure to resolve conflicts in Somalia, Afghanistan, North Korea, Zimbabwe and Sudan. Adds: We'll protect our vital interests.

"Before you teach us how to resolve conflicts here, I expect at the very least that you solve all the problems in Europe," Foreign Minister Avigdor Lieberman told his French and Spanish counterparts Bernard Kouchner and Miguel Moratinos Sunday night.

During their meeting in Jerusalem, Lieberman said, "In 1938 the European community decided to appease Hitler instead of supporting the loyal ally Czechoslovakia, and sacrificed it without gaining anything.

"We have no intention of becoming 2010's Czechoslovakia and will insist on Israel's vital interests," the FM added.

Lieberman also told his counterparts that the West has failed in resolving conflicts and that he does not understand why Israel was being singled out. "It seems as though the international community is trying to make up for its failure to resolve conflicts in Somalia, Afghanistan, North Korea, Zimbabwe, Sudan and other places by trying to bring about an Israeli-Palestinian agreement within a year," he said.

"Instead of discussing the upcoming referendum in Sudan with the Arab League or discussing the explosive situation that is expected in Iraq in 2012, Israel is being pressured. This may lead to the collapse of the negotiations, just as it did in 2000 following the Camp David summit."

Earlier Sunday, Kouchner and Moratinos told President Shimon Peres their countries want to help progress the peace process. Peres said, "Peace involves many difficulties. We must not give up. We must advance peace, since the alternative is so dangerous."



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