US urges Turkey not to worsen Israel ties

TODAYSZAMAN
WASHINGTON

Turkish Foreign Minister Davuto?lu had talks with US Secretary of State Hillary Clinton in New York on Monday.
The United States urged Turkey not to do anything to worsen its relationship with Israel, US officials said on Monday, seeking to prevent relations between the two US allies from deteriorating further.
One official offered no details, but may have been alluding to the possibility of the Turkish navy escorting aid flotillas to the Gaza Strip ruled by the Hamas group, which the United States and Israel regard as a terrorist organization. Israel’s May 2010 raid on a Gaza-bound aid flotilla killed nine Turks, including an American citizen, and the idea of future Turkish naval escorts raises the possibility of a military confrontation between the two major US allies in the Middle East.
US Secretary of State Hillary Clinton delivered the message in a nearly one-hour meeting with Turkish Foreign Minister Ahmet Davuto?lu that also touched on the Cyprus dispute, the Israeli-Palestinian conflict and Syria’s brutal crackdown on protests against the four-decade Bashar al-Assad government. Israel’s refusal to apologize for the flotilla incident has angered Turkey, a NATO ally of the United States and a growing economic power.
“She encouraged Turkey to keep the door open,” said a senior US official, who spoke on condition of anonymity, after Clinton and Davuto?lu met ahead of the UN General Assembly session that opens this week. “We want to see them repair their relationship, so she encouraged them to avoid any steps that would close that door and, on the contrary, to actively seek ways that they can repair [their] important relationship with Israel,” he added.

“The secretary made clear that this is not a time when we need more tension, more volatility in the region,” a second official said, apparently referring to Israel’s deteriorating ties with Egypt and Jordan and tensions with the Palestinians. The United States has watched with dismay as Turkish-Israeli ties began to unravel in late 2008, after Israel outraged Turkey by launching an offensive against the Gaza Strip.

After the release of a UN report on the flotilla, which aimed to break Israel’s naval blockade of Gaza, Turkey expelled Israel’s envoy, froze military cooperation and said the Turkish navy could escort future aid flotillas. The senior US officials declined to say whether Clinton had specifically warned Davuto?lu against such military escorts, which raise the prospect of military confrontation between Turkey and the Jewish state.

Turkish Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdo?an has kept up a stream of harsh rhetoric on Israel, using a tour of Arab states last week to support a Palestinian bid for statehood at the United Nations and dismissing Israel as a spoiled client of the West.

The two countries had previously worked together closely on military cooperation and intelligence sharing, as both sought reliable partners in a volatile neighborhood. Their relationship is sure to come up when US President Barack Obama and Erdo?an meet in New York this week for talks, expected to cover Turkey’s neighbors Syria and Iran as well as wider issues.

Clinton: Greek Cyprus has right to explore resources

In a gentle rebuff to Turkey, an official said Clinton repeated the US position on the internationally recognized Greek Cypriot administration’s right to search for gas in the Mediterranean and that this should not undermine talks to resolve the dispute over the divided island of Cyprus. Cyprus was split following a Turkish intervention in 1974 triggered by a brief Greek-inspired coup. Current peace talks are the latest in a series of on-and-off consultations to relink the sides under a federal model.

Clinton told Davuto?lu that the best way to sort out the problems related to energy and economic development is by finally ending the 37-year standoff, according to the official, who spoke on condition of anonymity because the meeting was private.

US company Noble Energy will start drilling at its natural gas field off the coast of Greek Cyprus within days, the company said on Monday. Turkey, the only country to recognize Turkish Cyprus, has said any reserves belong to both communities. The Greek Cypriot administration has said it will block Turkey’s talks to join the European Union as long as Ankara challenges its rights to such energy reserves.

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