Turkey on Monday strongly condemned Israel’s “disproportionate” attacks in the blockaded Gaza Strip. The Turkish government, that model of self-restraint that so far imprisoned an estimated 60,000 citizens over allegations of pulling a coup last month, and is debating returning the death penalty to finish the job, said in a statement that “the attacks, which caused injuries to innocent Palestinian civilians, are not acceptable regardless of their grounds.”
The Turkish Foreign Ministry said Israel’s “hostile attitude” had interrupted the peace process as well as a period of inactivity.
In keeping with the tradition of “It all began when Israel retaliated,” the Turks failed to mention that itzi bitzi rocket that was shot at the Israeli civilian center of Sderot, just before Israel set about punishing the Gazans.
Also, the Turks were obviously still counting the $20 million they have received from Israel in compensation for their 10 citizens getting killed while attacking Israeli soldiers on the Gaza Flotilla back in 2010, because the statement added, “Normalizing ties with Israel does not mean that we will keep silent in the face of attacks against the Palestinian people.”
Apparently, Turkey is determined to “continue to stand in solidarity with the Palestinian people against Israeli action that violates international law and offends the conscience.”
A refreshing expression of friendship by anyone’s account.