RELATIONS BETWEEN Israel and Turkey hit a new low yesterday when Ankara threatened to recall its ambassador over a meeting between the diplomat and Israel’s deputy foreign minister, Danny Ayalon.
Mr Ayalon issued a formal letter of apology last night after his earlier comments had been rejected as inadequate by Ankara.
Ambassador Ahmet Oguz Celikkol was summoned to a meeting on Monday with Mr Ayalon to hear complaints over a Turkish TV drama, The Valley of the Wolves. The series, considered anti-Semitic in Jerusalem, depicts Israeli troops kidnapping children and shooting old men.
The reprimand turned into a public humiliation as the ambassador was forced to sit on a low chair with Mr Ayalon looking down on him. There was only an Israeli flag on the table, and Mr Ayalon refused to shake his hand.
Israeli TV crews were briefed in Hebrew at the start of the meeting to take note of the humiliating nature of the reprimand.
Following a wave of criticism in Turkey, Mr Ayalon said: “It’s not my custom to offend ambassadors and in the future I will explain my positions in accepted diplomatic ways”.
Seventeen Israeli members of parliament sent a letter to the Turkish ambassador expressing their regret over “Mr Ayalon’s inappropriate behaviour”.
Israel and Turkey have enjoyed good relations over recent years, with Ankara becoming the Jewish state’s friendliest ally in the Muslim world. But relations, which cooled after Recep Tayyip Erdogan’s Islamic government came to power in 2003, deteriorated rapidly after the Gaza war. Since then Turkey has improved its ties with Syria and Iran.
Israeli foreign minister Avigdor Lieberman, who last month urged Israeli diplomats to “stop grovelling”, yesterday said Israel doesn’t seek confrontation with Turkey, but that it “won’t tolerate anti-Semitic remarks and incitement against Jews”.