Israel Peeing Against The Wind

Israel loading Turkey-bound planes.

Israeli aid sent to Turkey in wake of a massive earthquake that struck the country will not alleviate tense ties between the two countries, Turkish Foreign Minister Ahmet Davutoğlu indicated on Thursday.

I

On Tuesday, Turkey accepted aid from Israel for the first time since the 7.2 earthquake struck the country's east, after rejecting several offers by top Israeli officials.

...

However, speaking to Turkey's Today's Zaman newspaper on Thursday, the Turkish FM indicated that Ankara's acceptance of Israeli aid did not signal an improvement in diplomatic ties, saying it would not change its “principled position.”

Speaking with his Jordanian counterpart, Davutoğlu was quoted by Today's Zaman as saying that “political conditions remain,” referring to Turkey's demand that Israel formally apologize for the 2010 raid, and that Israel lift its blockade of the Hamas-ruled Gaza Strip.

The structures Israel has sent Turkey are meant to provide refuge to survivors who lost their homes in the natural disaster, with Jerusalem planning to send additional temporary structures in the coming days. Turkey, however, has refused to accept Israeli assistance in rescuing victims from the wreckage.

HAARETZ

Turkish Citizens Upset Palestinians Are Given More Aid Than Earthquake Victims

"The prime minister runs for help when it's Palestine or Somalia, sends ships to Palestine, almost goes into war with Israel for the sake of Palestinians, but he doesn't move a muscle when it comes to his own people," 

Fighting broke out among Turkish earthquake survivors on Tuesday as homeless families scrambled for tents after enduring two nights of biting cold under whatever shelter they can find.

Complaints about poor tent distribution have been rife since Sunday's quake destroyed thousands of homes and made many others uninhabitable, and anger among the destitute is being directed at Prime Minister Tayyip Erdogan.

Desperation boiled over in a crowd of around 200 people in the eastern city of Van on Tuesday. Fists flew and people shoved and pulled each other, trying to grab one of the tents which relief workers handed out from the back of a truck.

Survivors, many of whom have been forced to huddle round small fires in the open, accused Erdogan of putting international diplomacy before his own citizens.

"There is absolutely no coordination, you have to step on people to get a tent. The Prime Minister should take care of his own people before going to Somalia and Libya," said jobless 18-year-old Suleyman Akbulut.

Women in the crowd were hit and kicked as people tried to force their way through to get to the tents, while police tried in vain to establish order.

reuters

I guess Iran's assistance just isn't sufficient enough...

Defense minister orders aid be flown to Turkey after Turkish authorities request assistance from Israel; death toll from the 7.2-magnitude earthquake rise to 432 as rescue efforts continue.

Defense Minister Ehud Barak on Tuesday gave special instructions to relevant members of the defense establishment to fly special equipment to Turkey to aid in the country's rescue and recovery, following a deadly earthquake in the Van district on Monday.

According to a statement released by Barak, the decision to send the equipment to Turkey came after Turkish authorities requested assistance from Israel.

The statement did not specify what type of equipment was being sent.

...

Prime Minister Binyamin Netanyahu called his Turkish counterpart Recep Tayyip Erdogan on on Monday evening to personally offer assistance with the recovery efforts from the devastating earthquake that rocked Turkey on Sunday.

Netanyahu “expressed his condolences” to the earthquake victims and expressed Israel to offer help, if it was required, said an Israeli official.

Erdogan thanked Netanyahu for his concern and for the offer of support, said the official.








I guess primitive equipment just doesn't cut it.


Jpost

Turkey Refuses Israeli Aid Even Though They Have "primitive equipment"

I couldn't understand why Turkey would refuse aid from experienced Israel, yet agree to accept aid from ill-prepared countries like Iran. IsraelMatzav has a great explanation why.  

Search-and-rescue personnel working in the Van earthquake zone have decried their “primitive” working conditions and lack of technical equipment as they try and reach survivors from the eastern province’s devastating temblor.

"We are working with primitive tools, we have no equipment," one rescuer told the Hürriyet Daily News.

Emergency personnel said they heard cries for help coming from under a collapsed building this morning and started to work on the wreckage to reach the survivors. The cries had stopped at around noon, they said, adding that they had to dig out the dead bodies of quake victims.

"We can't get to survivors fast enough," one rescue team member said.

The spirit among rescuers is noticeably low, and some members could only weep in frustration at the situation.

There is a device to find people under rubble, rescuers said, but added that they only had one of the devices in the district of Erciş, which was worst hit by the Oct. 23 quake.

"We yell into collapsed buildings, asking if anybody is there," a rescue team member said.

Aid inadequate

Only one food distribution point was set up in Erciş and there was a significant lack of supplies and equipment. No new aid truck or supplies arrived for the hours that the Hürriyet Daily News was in Erciş.

Banks, hospitals and stores were all damaged or destroyed in the quake but there have been no reports of looting as people have continued to walk around Erciş in shock.

Many survivors said the only thing they wanted was some bread.

All but one of the homes in the nearby Yedikonak village was flattened in the quake.

Hurriyet

Assad warns Jordan against holding a war game like Turkey and Israel

Tensions peaked again around Syria's borders with Israel, Turkey and Jordan as the first two embarked on large-scale mobilization maneuvers near those borders Wednesday and Thursday, Oct. 5-6 and the Jordanian armed forces prepared to follow suit. debkafile's military and intelligence sources report that the United States and Turkey urged Jordan's King Abdullah to hold a similar maneuver or reinforce his units on the Syrian border. But Bashar Assad decided that being forced to build up his forces on Syria's borders with Turkey and Israel was enough and a Jordanian exercise must be stopped. Thursday, he sent his powerful brother-in-law Gen. Asef Shawqat to Amman with a stern warning for the king: If the Hashemite Kingdom lines up with Turkey and Israel and deploys extra troops on the Syrian border, Assad will order his air force to bomb Jordanian towns. And if Israel intervenes to engage Syrian bombers, Damascus would launch surface missiles against Jordanian cities.

It was the second time this week that the Syrian ruler had threatened to punish an enemy with ground-to-ground missiles. Tuesday, Oct. 4, debkafile revealed that Assad had threatened to demolish Tel Aviv by missiles within six hours of an attack on Syria. Jordan's Abdullah told Gen. Shawqat he agreed to give up his planned military exercise, but not his opposition to Assad actions.

In Washington, Ankara and Jerusalem, the Syrian message to Jordan was taken as an implied warning to Turkey and Israel alike that Assad had no intention of taking their military exercises lying down either and a military response was coming.

read the rest here

Seems to me like Assad's fears are legitimate...

Turkey, Israel, Greece and Russia mobilising over Cyprus gas

Block 12

Turkey and Greece in dispute over gas drillings

Turkey and Turkish Cyprus (which is not recognised internationally) have signed an agreement with regards to the continental shelf to define their maritime borders with the goal of joint gas and oil exploration. However, some of the areas included in the agreement fall within a region claimed by the (Greek) Republic of Cyprus, a European Union member.

Cypriot President Dimitri Christofias said last Saturday that drilling for oil and gas would continue, despite Turkish opposition. For the Cypriot leader, his nation’s right to search for potential mineral deposits inside its exclusive economic zone is non-negotiable and that any foreign meddling is unacceptable.


Greece and Israel improve relations

The situation has led to a major improvement in relations between Cyprus and Israel. President Christofias has already visited Israel, and his Israeli counterpart is set to visit the island nation shortly.

The two countries have also signed an agreement on delimiting their respective Exclusive Economic Zones (EEZ) and on co-operating in oil and gas exploration in Cyprus’ EEZ, which has been undertaken by Noble Energy in cooperation with the US State Department and the US Embassy in Nicosia.

Cyprus also intends to act as a natural mediator between Lebanon and Israel in their dispute over Leviathan.


Gas drillings near Cyprus an International issue

...gas discoveries in the eastern Mediterranean are raising tensions that go beyond the Turkish-Cypriot dispute.

In Cyprus, newspapers are reporting increased Turkish aerial activity around the island, with nighttime research and rescue training operations. At the same time, Israel is monitoring Turkish moves with unmanned drones circling the drilling area.
Both Greece and Russia have backed the Cypriot position on the natural gas issue. Moscow also wants some licences to develop some of the fields and is in favour of a cooperation agreement with Cyprus.

The Russian aircraft carrier ‘Admiral Kuznetsov’ is expected in the eastern Mediterranean region next month, carrying a large number of Russian fighters. A submarine is also on its way for “patrol purposes” as part of exercises with other countries in the area.

The arrival of the Russians coincides with the expected announcement by Noble of its initial drilling results.

Asia News

Waaay Ahead of Mainstream Media

This is a sample of today's top story:

Syrian President Bashar Assad warned western countries on Tuesday that if Syria comes under NATO attack it would fire missiles at Tel Aviv, Iranian semi-official news agency FARS reported.

During a meeting with Turkish Foreign Minister Ahmad Davutoglu Assad allegedly threatened: "If a crazy measure is taken against Damascus, I will need not more than 6 hours to transfer hundreds of rockets and missiles to the Golan Heights to fire them at Tel Aviv."

-Jpost

Now for some reason mainstream media picked up on this story today, October 4th, while I Posted this story here September 26th.. hmm..

Greece and Russia rally behind Cyprus

Block 12 within Cyprus’ Exclusive Economic Zone (EEZ)

Greek Minister of National Defence Panos Beglitis, who attended yesterday’s parade, told reporters: “We are in close cooperation with Cyprus’ leadership, we are watching Turkey’s actions very closely, in a composed and decisive manner and I would like once again to denounce statements often made by the Turkish political leadership, as well as the policies followed.”

Russian Ambassador to Cyprus Vyacheslav Shumskiy said Moscow’s position was “absolutely clear” on the issue. “We were among the first countries to comment on that, and we totally support the sovereign right of the Cypriot people for exploitation of natural resources , this is totally in accordance with the international law and with the EU regulations, so there is no doubt about that,” he said.

read more at: Cyprus Mail

Israeli vs Turkish Fighter Jets Over Cyprus

With a treasure trove of hydrocarbon reserves thought to lie beneath the sea, the stakes are high: the winner could emerge as an energy broker in charge of Europe's gas supplies for decades to come.

"If the findings are as big as they say then the power political parameters of the region will shift," said Hubert Faustmann, a political science professor at the University of Nicosia in Cyprus.

"We're talking about trillions of cubic metres of hydrocarbons worth billions of dollars."
The row erupted after the divided Mediterranean island instructed a US company, Noble Energy, to begin drilling off its southern shores last month.

Turkey Introduces First Domestic Warship

 Turkey's first warship built by a local shipyard, a corvette, entered Turkish Navy service Sept. 27, and a second corvette of the same class was put to sea during a televised ceremony in Istanbul.

The moves come amid rising tensions with former ally Israel in the eastern Mediterranean.

Turkish frigates, jets escort ship that began oil and gas exploration off Cyprus

Turkey is using its navy and air force to escort a ship conducting oil and gas exploration off Cyprus, an official said Tuesday, in the latest development in a dispute over the ownership of the divided island nation’s natural resources.

Turkey Prevents Illegals From Arriving To Israel

The Population and Immigration Authority said Tuesday that its officers have been able to stop 97 residents of the Ivory Coast from arriving in Israel illegally under the guise of pilgrims.

Assad Fears Israel and Turkey Will Occupy Syria, Plans to Launch 5,000 Missiles/hour On Israel if Attacked by NATO: Source

John Batchelor Travelled with colleague Aaron Klein, WABC, to Golan Heights last week to meet with Syrian source who lives in the borderland between Syria and Occupied Syria and Lebanon and Israel. Speaks of the Bashar Assad regime standing bloody-minded firm against the protesters in the Sunni cities of Homs and Homa.

Is He Really In A Position To Threaten Turkey?

An attack on the rig drilling for gas off shore from Cyprus for an Israeli-American consortium would be considered an attack on the United States, says Richard Stone, chairman of the Conference of Presidents of Major American Jewish Organizations.

Turkey to Azerbaijan: Stand with us against Israel

The Turkish ambassador to Azerbaijan called on Baku to stand beside Ankara in its diplomatic struggle against Israel and "reconsider" its relations with the Jewish State, a Persian-language US-based website reported on Sunday.

U.S. Agreed to Supply Turkey With Drones to Combat PKK

The U.S. has agreed in principle to deploy U.S. Predator drones on Turkish soil to aid in the fight against Kurdish separatist rebels, Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan said.

5 Turkish soldiers killed in PKK attack

Anti-Israel Propaganda?

The PKK militants launch their attacks from Iraq’s Qandil Mountains in the areas under the control of Kurdistan Regional Government President Massoud Barzani, where Israeli agents and Israeli firms are known to be operating.

Turkey-France rivalry over Libya (part 2)

With Gaddafi out of power, France and Turkey both want to reap the benefits of the Libyan uprising.
see Part 1 here

Prime Minister Erdogan’s visits to Egypt, Tunisia and Libya in which administrations fall with the public movements referred as the Arab Spring were followed in the region as well as by the international community, they also resulted in some concerns in certain countries.

France, getting uncomfortable with the initiatives of Turkey, arranged an official visit to Libya where the most brutal aspects of the Arab Spring take place, and France also underscored the French role during the process of transformation in the country. In their statements, the British Prime Minister Cameron who made visits to Tripoli and Benghazi in Libya with Sarkozy indicated that the NATO intervention and the role of the United Nations would continue. Both leaders, in their statements to the Libyan public, posited that their target was to bring freedom to Libya. While Sarkozy and Cameron were stating that they would go on with the war, there were some clashes in Sirte and Beni Velid. After the visit of two leaders, the United Nations General Assembly recognized the National Transitional Council of Libya as the legitimate representative of Libya and the UN Security Council produced the 2009-numbered resolution in which the members agreed on the establishment of a temporary mandate government in Libya under the United Nations Support Mission in Libya –UNSMIL-. This way, it became evident that at least one of the countries supporting the NATO’s military intervention in Libya will be directly coordinating the new restructuring period in Libya for additional three months.

Bomb blast rocks Turkish capital: report

A bomb blast rocked the center of the Turkish capital Ankara on Tuesday and some media reports said two people were killed, while a local mayor said nobody was dead but three people were seriously wounded.
Police were not immediately available for comment, but a TV station reported that the explosion had occurred in a minibus.

Television images showed several parked cars ablaze in front of a local state authority's offices, while a plume of thick smoke rose over the area.

Ambulances and fire engines rushed to the scene. The state-run Anatolian news agency said police set up a security cordon at the site in case of a secondary explosion.

Dogan News Agency quoted police sources as saying the blast was caused by a bomb and fire service officials as saying that two people had died. It also reported that police had detained a woman near the scene.

Cankaya Mayor Bulent Tanik said nobody was killed but three people had been seriously wounded, while broadcaster CNN Turk said 20 people were wounded and were being treated at three hospitals.

CNN Turk said bomb disposal teams were at the scene.

reuters

Turkey Threatens the European Union

Turkey will freeze relations with the European Union if Cyprus assumes the presidency of the group of nations, Turkish Deputy Prime Minister Besir Atalay said, the official Turkish news agency reported Sunday.

Anadolu did not elaborate on what that would mean in practice.

Atalay was on a visit to the self-declared Turkish Republic of Northern Cyprus, which is not recognized internationally.

Turkish troops invaded Cyprus in 1974 in response to a coup d'etat there, engineered by by Greece, which was run by a military dictatorship at the time.

The island remains divided despite years of efforts to resolve the deadlock. The southern part of the island joined the European Union on its own after unity efforts failed.

Cyprus is scheduled to take over the rotating six-month leadership of the EU in the second half of 2012, on a schedule that was announced in 2007.

Turkey has spent years negotiating to join the European Union.

CNN