Foreign Correspondence

[fuagf]

Erdogan Storms Out of Davos Panel After Peres Clash (Update1)
By Calev Ben-David and Matthew Benjamin

Sorry not much English, but ..
Turkish Prime Minister (TAYYIP ERDOGAN) Walks Out At DAVOS 2009 Part 1

uh, we really have to get guests to dinner..was worth it. :)

Proper English translation here ..
Turkish Prime Minister (TAYYIP ERDOGAN) Walks Out At DAVOS 2009 Part 2. Here He Expains

actually this is good and won't be on Australian news, i'll bet.

Jan. 30 (Bloomberg) -- Turkish Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan walked out of a panel discussion in protest after
clashing with Israeli President Shimon Peres at the World Economic Forum over Israel’s operation in the Gaza Strip.

Erdogan, 54, was attempting to respond to Peres’s defense of the military actions after the session had
run over its scheduled time yesterday and the moderator tried to cut him off. Erdogan protested that he
was being given less time than Peres, said he would not return to Davos and quickly left the stage.

The encounter underscored Erdogan’s criticism of Israel’s 22-day offensive against
Hamas in Gaza that concluded on Jan. 18. While Israel and Turkey have full diplomatic
relations and extensive trade ties, Erdogan said yesterday indirect peace talks
between Israel and Syria, which his aides mediated for more than a year, have been “shelved.”

If Erdogan persists in criticizing Israel “relations between the two countries will be harmed,”
Alon Liel, former foreign ministry director-general and
Israeli charge d’affaires
in Turkey in the 1980s, said in an interview late yesterday. “They have already been harmed.”

Peres and Erdogan spoke late yesterday by telephone and “consider the
matter closed,” according to a statement released by the World Economic Forum.

During the session, Erdogan accused Israel of not respecting the democratic rights of the Palestinians
and of using excessive force in Gaza. Peres, 85, responded that
Israel was trying to defend itself
against Hamas rocket attacks and accused Hamas of being a “cruel, dictatorial regime.”

Gaza Casualties

The Israeli operation left at least 1,375 Palestinians dead, according to the Palestinian emergency
services department in the Gaza Strip. Thirteen Israelis were killed, the Israeli army said.

Speaking to reporters later, Erdogan said he was annoyed that the moderator, David Ignatius, a Washington Post
columnist, didn’t let him make his points. He said he “didn’t target” Jews, Israelis or Peres, though he called
Peres’s arguments “untrue.” Erdogan added that he may reconsider returning to Davos. Ignatius declined to comment.

“We can’t start the debate again we just don’t have time,” Ignatius said during the session as the
other panelists, Arab League head Amre Moussa and United Nations General Secretary Ban Ki-moon, looked on.

Audience Reaction

Members of the audience reacted with silence as Erdogan bolted, leaving World Economic Forum President
and founder Klaus Schwab to make a closing statement that attempted to end on a peaceful note.
Spectators included Valerie Jarrett, a senior adviser to President Barack Obama. She was in the front row.

Peres’s defense of Israel’s military operation was “belligerent,” said Abu Eesa
Niamatullah, an imam from northwest England. “And I don’t just say that because I’m a Muslim.”

Stuart Eizenstat, a partner at the law firm Covington & Burling LLP and a former U.S. deputy Treasury secretary
in the Clinton administration, said Peres’s comments were the “single best defense of why Israel reacted to Gaza.”

“Nobody can solve this problem with a temper tantrum any more than you can solve it with an Uzi
or a Kalashnikov,” Eric Clemons, professor of management and information management at Wharton
School at University of Pennsylvania. “I’m surprised -- the rest of the day was so hopeful.”

To contact the reporter on this story: Calev Ben-David in Jerusalem at [e-mail]; Matthew Benjamin in Davos at [e-mail]
Last Updated: January 30, 2009 00:49 EST

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