From: wolda002@umn.edu
Date: Thu Jan 22 2009 - 19:53:04 EST
Turkish PM: Israel should be barred from UN
By SELCAN HACAOGLU –
ANKARA, Turkey (AP) — Israel should be barred from the United Nations
while it ignores the organization's calls to stop fighting in Gaza,
Turkey's prime minister said Friday, urging the world not to turn a blind
eye to Israel's "savagery."
"How is such a country, which totally ignores and does not implement
resolutions of the U.N. Security Council, allowed to enter through the
gates of the U.N.?" Recep Tayyip Erdogan said.
Erdogan spoke before U.N. Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon arrived in Ankara.
Erdogan's comments reflected growing anger in Turkey, Israel's best friend
in the Muslim world, over Israel's Gaza operation.
Ban is on a weeklong trip to the region to promote a truce after both
Israel and Hamas leaders in Gaza ignored a U.N. resolution demanding an
immediate cease-fire.
"The U.N. building in Gaza was hit while the U.N. secretary-general was in
Israel," Erdogan said. "This is an open challenge to the world."
Erdogan told Ban at a banquet that Turkey was disappointed the United
Nations did not assume a more active role in Gaza, the state-run Anatolia
news agency reported on Friday.
"All border crossings with Gaza must be opened to alleviate the suffering
of civilians and Israeli soldiers must simultaneously and urgently leave
Gaza," Anatolia quoted Erdogan as saying. "Turkey is ready for any mission
in each and every step the U.N. will take."
Ban said Turkey's proposals were important, Anatolia said.
Israel infuriated the U.N. when it shelled the world body's headquarters
Thursday in Gaza City, where hundreds of Gazans were seeking shelter. The
destruction added to what aid groups say is a humanitarian crisis in Gaza.
In an anti-Israel demonstration in Istanbul after Friday prayers, about
1,500 pro-Islamic protesters chanted "We're all soldiers of Hamas!" And
police in Ankara used pepper spray to disperse hundreds of protesters.
Several shops were damaged during the clashes in downtown Kizilay district.
Israeli Foreign Ministry spokesman Yigal Palmor rebuffed Erdogan's
criticism.
"Maybe if Turkey had voted more with Israel at the U.N. and expressed its
anger when Hamas was firing rockets indiscriminately on Israeli civilians,
it could have contributed more to bringing peace to southern Israel and
Gaza" than by making such statements, Palmor said.
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