Turkish FM Ahmet Davutoglu answered the questions of the NTV Turkish TV channel regarding the recent policy issues. Davutoglu said that the principle of Turkey regarding Israel and other countries was very clear. He emphasized that Turkey would support those who would take steps towards peace and all those who thought that their freedoms and security was more important than others would damage the peace of the region. Davutoglu stated that Turkey felt moral responsibility towards everyone’s security and freedom in the region.
Referring to recent ‘couch incident’ with Israel, Davutoglu said that Turkey’s honor would never be on the bargaining table. He emphasized that Turkey gave a clear message on her wishes on the issue and since she got the expected response from Israel, the issue was closed.
Davutoglu emphasized that there had never been anti-Semitism in Turkey and Turkey would never allow such a thing. He said that criticizing Israel was not anti-Semitism. He stated that the peace process in the Middle East was frozen and criticized Israel for continuing the building of settlements and not ending the siege in Gaza. Davutoglu also said that it was not true that Turkey was approaching the Middle East and leaving all other aside and no one could hear either him or the Prime Minister using the expression ‘Neo-Ottomanism.’
Source: ntvmsnbc (Turkey), January 26, 2010
