Bilderberg.org

[Johnny Meadows]

"Turkish Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdoğan walked off the stage at the World Economic Forum in Davos on Thursday, visibly angry after verbally sparring with Israeli President Shimon Peres over the fighting in Gaza. Erdoğan was angry after being cut off by a panel moderator after listening to a biased monologue by Peres defending Israel's recent brutal offensive against Hamas in the Gaza Strip. Erdoğan told Peres: You know very well how to kill people. And turning to the moderator he declared: For me Davos is over, I will never attend this meeting again."

NB: Here's the full hour-long video of the Davos World Economic Forum talk on Gaza (with English translation). Please skip to exactly 1 hour and 1 minute to get Erdogan's memorable speech where he's berating Peres for applauding the killings in Gaza:

http://streamstudio.world-television.com/CCUIv3/media.aspx?ticket=441-772-7017&target=en-default-&stream=wm-video-200&streamid=p000

Also available on Google Video (without translation):

http://video.google.com/videoplay?docid=3778781106070259923&hl=tr

My rough translation of some of his memorable and direct words to Peres:

"Your voice sounds very loud, much like that of someone who has a guilty conscience"

"When it comes to killing people, you sure know how to do it very well. I know very well how you managed to kill all those children at the beach (west bank?)"

"The Sixth Commandment says 'Thou Shalt Not Kill' but you are killing people"

After he is interrupted several times by the moderator:

"Davos is over for me! I will never be coming here again. You have not let me speak. He (Peres) spoke for 25 minutes, (I) only 12..."

Seconds later he walked out.

Please show your support at: http://www.davosfatihi.com/

[Johnny Meadows]

http://www.richardsilverstein.com/tikun_olam/2009/01/30/duking-it-out-in-davos-erdogan-v-peres/

Duking it Out in Davos: Erdogan v. Peres

"Shimon Peres put on a display of fireworks, venom and histrionics–in his talk at Davos (60 minute video) about the Gaza war–that was startling. He shouted, wagged his finger, hectored, berated. It was astonishing. His antagonist was primarily the Turkish prime minister Erdogan, who took Israel’s prime minister Olmert to task for wasting an opportunity to make peace with Syria under Turkish auspices during a meeting only four days before the Gaza attack. In fact one wonders why Olermt would go forward with such a meeting when he knew what the IDF had in store for Gaza. It really was the ultimate insult for his Turkish hosts. Of course, if you read the Israeli rightist press like the Jerusalem Post you’ll find nothing but vitriol for Turkey, which is viewed as the one which betrayed Israel. But the right never wanted negotiations with Syria anyway.

Erdogan rather eloquently called for Israel to embrace negotiation rather than violence to achieve its aims. While he admitted that some find Hamas distasteful, he reminded his listeners that they were elected fair and square by Palestinians to represent them. Clearly, the Turkish leader felt burned by the investment of time and capital in attempting to bridge the differences between Israel and Syria and achieve a peace agreement. He saw the Gaza operation as a personal affront to these diplomatic efforts. It is for this reason that Turkey’s reaction to Gaza has been so harsh and unyielding. You can’t really blame him.

From his point of view, Turkey held out an opportunity for Israel to achieve peace with Syria through negotiations rather than the gun. And what was Israel’s response? To spurn it by letting loose the dogs of war in Gaza.

When it came time to Peres to speak he was given 25 minutes to meander (while the previous speakers had been given 10 minutes each). The Israeli president unleashed a harsh, unyielding rant that was full of strange statements, truncated arguments and meandering rhetoric. Clearly, he is feeling the effects of his age as his remarks bordered on the incoherent at times. But what was most evident was the choleric tone.

Here are a few of the stranger statements: he claimed that Israel could not accept the Saudi 2002 initiative because “there was a small problem of Iran” which wishes to rule the Middle East. Peres also claimed that Hamas did not win a democratic election. Rather Mahmoud Abbas DID win an election as president of the Palestinians. Peres also claimed there is no humanitarian crisis in Gaza; that Israel supplies all the water, fuel and electricity that Gaza needs; and that if there is a problem he would personally intervene to correct it.

Israel’s president touted the work of his Peres Center, for bringing 5,500 Palestinian children to Israeli hospitals to be “cured” of their illnesses. He bragged that every Israeli hospital has Arab doctors who can communicate with these patients. The level of cultural condesenscion and nobless oblige in these remarks was rather astonishing.

Peres weirdly asked why Hamas wouldn’t turn to the path of negotiation, and then promptly said that Israel could never negotiate with a Palestinian government that included terrorist thugs like Hamas.

He claimed that Israel never broke a ceasefire, never fired unless fired upon. After Erdogan complained that his car had been delayed 30 minutes at the Israeli border crossing into the West Bank, Peres had the temerity to claim it happened because such cars have been known to be packed with dynamite. Can you imagine Israel’s president justifying such a severe diplomatic breach by claiming that the car of a sovereign head of state (AND Israeli ally) might’ve been packed with dynamite? I’m scratching my head over that one. Is this nuttery supposed to be doing Israel a favor?

It’s like he’s been living in an cocoon and not been reading the world’s newspaper or television news programs to see what his own troops have inflicted on the Gazans. In fact, he reminds me a bit of an embalmed figure the Israelis release from his state of suspended animation every few weeks so he can go before the world community and convey his truculent message, after which they put him back in his cocoon where he can return to hibernation. This was a sad day for Israel.

If I was a bit less charitable I might say that Peres’ extraordinary performance is emblematic of Israel’s own lagging performance on the world stage. Just as Israel sputters with rage and does such a poor job of pursuing its interets and persuading the world of its good intentions–so Shimon Peres today represented Israel in the most shabby and loud-mouthed fashion. While I have disliked and disagreed with Peres’ political views for almost ten years now, this was truly his nadir, and along with it, Israel’s.

After Peres completed his tirade, Erdogan asked for time to rebut him. Washington Post journalist and moderator, David Ignatius cut him off after 2 minutes or so and brought the proceedings to an end. Erdogan arose angrily and announced that it would be his last visit to Davos. Personally, I think the Davos organizers have only themselves to blame. They created a panel of talking heads without allowing any interaction with the audience. There wasn’t even an opportunity for the speakers to directly address each other through questions and give and take. It was a recipe for pontification and confrontation.

By the way, I found the remarks of Amr Moussa, the Arab League secrary to be the most cogent, thoughtful and eloquent. I urge you to listen to them. If there were only people of good will and sharp thinking like him on both sides, the conflict could easily be resolved.

Erdogan’s talk begins at about the 7 minute mark. Peres begins at about the 31 minute mark. Erdogan’s walkout occurs at about the 1:00 mark. Though it’s a long video, it’s quite interesting and worth watching if nothing else for the rare opportunity to see powerful Middle East leaders exploding in rage and fireworks."

WATCH THE FULL 60 MINUTE VIDEO HERE: http://gaia.world-television.com/wef/worldeconomicforum_annualmeeting2009/default.aspx?sn=7017&lang=en

As you can, Erdogan's speech is clearly respectful and considerate.

[Johnny Meadows]

My note: It is now clear that the German newspapers are running a spin campaign against Erdogan. This article is smearing him as a hot-head, even though it was Peres who gave the antagonising speech, which Erdogan calmly refers to in the above video when he says: "Your voice is very loud, much like someone who has a guilty conscience. I will not be raising my voice to your level..."

From: http://www.spiegel.de/international/world/0,1518,604650,00.html

01/30/2009

A TURKEY-ISRAEL CLASH AT DAVOS
Erdogan's Feeling for Rage
By Daniel Steinvorth in Istanbul

The Turks know that their Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan is something of a hothead. Critics warn that his fit of rage at the World Economic Forum has damaged Turkey's important relationship with Israel. Erdogan's supporters are jubilant and are even celebrating the "Hero of Davos" with a fan Web site.

[Picture: AP - Erdogan supporters celebrate his arrival at Istanbul's Atatürk International Airport. ]

There are plenty of stories making the rounds in Turkey about Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan's rage. The son of a sailor from Istanbul's working class neighborhood of Kasimpasa who made it all the way to the top of the Turkish government, Erdogan has always been a bit of a Kabadiyi, a ruffian or hothead. He is someone who never avoids a fight -- whether it be on the streets, on the football pitch or now, years later, in politics.

This political leader has never made much of an effort to keep his exuberant temper in check. Quite the opposite in fact. "Anger is an art of rhetoric," Erdogan once said in a TV interview in response to a question about his character. "This idea of showing the other cheek -- we don't have that. I am not some kind of patient sheep."

This is why Turks either love him or hate him. Mostly they admire him and never more so than after his performance at the World Economic Forum in Davos on Thursday.

It was here that Erdogan, with a particular feeling for the mood in his country, didn't mince his words during a debate with Israeli President Shimon Peres. He called the recent Israeli operation in the Gaza Strip a "crime against humanity" and "barbaric." He said a "curse" would fall on Israel for their actions during the 22-day military operation and then stalked out of the session after complaining that the moderator was not giving him the chance to respond to Peres. In a meeting with the United Nations General Secretary Ban Ki-moon he even called for Israel to be excluded from the UN.

There is hardly a leader in the Muslim world, apart from the Iranian president, who has spoken out so harshly on this issue. And while Turkey has never seen so many people out on the streets in support of the Palestinians, now suddenly demonstrators cross the Arab world are also carrying images of Erdogan.

It is likely that the popularity of the "Hero of Gaza," as some Turkish newspapers are describing Erdogan, will now grow after his Davos appearance. His supporters greeted him as the "Hero of Davos" and the "Conquerer of Davos" on his return to the Atatürk Airport in Istanbul. So many people had gathered here during the night to welcome back Erdogan and his wife Emine that the traffic around the airport ground to a halt.

[Picture: DPA - Recep Tayyip Erdogan (center), walks off the stage at Davos after an altercation with Israeli President Shimon Peres (left) at the World Economic Forum in Davos.]

The Islamic newspaper Vakit described Erdogan's fit of rage as an "Ottoman slap in the face for Israel," but even the moderate Yeni Safak was describing the event as "historic." The Takvim newspaper was happy that "Davos is over," while the CNN Türk network passed on the good wishes of the Palestinian ambassador in Ankara.

"I did not target at all in any way the Israeli people, President Peres, or the Jewish people," Erdogan told a news conference later on Thursday. "We had an exchange of views, and the views are views," Israeli President Shimon Peres said on Friday.

Nevertheless, observers in both countries believe the incident has brought relations between Ankara and Jerusalem to a low point. The countries are displeased with each other -- and it didn't just start with Erdogan's latest failures, said one high-ranking Israeli government official. The main issue is the entire political line of Erdogan's AKP government, which has no qualms about taking up contact with Iran as well as Hamas, which Turkey views as a "legitimate dialogue partner."

Did Erdogan unleash a genie in a bottle that he can't get back in?

Not long ago, American Jewish organizations warned Erdogan about growing anti-Semitism in Turkey, which is a popular holiday destination for Israelis. "Hatred against Jews has been expressed in front of the Israeli embassy. Our Jewish friends in Turkey feel threatened," they wrote in an open letter to Erdogan.

"Turkey is already risking its position as a neutral mediator," says the former Turkish Ambassador to the US Inal Batu. And Onur Öymen, vice chairman of the left-wing Kemalist opposition party CHP, goes even further. He claims Erdogan "acted like a spokesman for an organization that is classed as terrorist" and that he has "ruined the international prestige of Turkey."

Critics claim Erdogan may have been motivated by upcoming municipal elections in Turkey in March. Sharp words against Israel are always popular with AKP's deeply religious core voters. In fact, the only group that swears by the elite project of a "strategic partnership" with the Jewish state is the secular Turkish army and the circles that support it.

This cooperation is set to continue despite Thursday's outburst. "We need one another," says Ozgur Hisarcikli of the German Marshall Fund in Ankara. "The Israelis are far too pragmatic to lose their most important Muslim allies," he says. "And the Turks need Israeli weapons."

It was a pity, therefore, that Erdogan could not have made his criticism in slightly more diplomatic tones. For Hisarcikli it is regrettable that he used the "spirit of Kasimpasa." "We are ashamed of him." But that's not how his supporters feel. They even set up a Web site for him on Friday called "Conquerer of Davos," ( www.davosfatihi.com), in which he is depicted with his hand on his heart and his gaze looking toward the Turkish flag. That is just how they love him.

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