Sunday, February 01, 2009

The Current Crisis With Turkey? Remember the Temple Mount?

Two years ago the crisis started and not when Erdogan walked off the Davos podium.

How short memories people have.

It started over the Temple Mount:-

Prime Minister Ehud Olmert has agreed to a Turkish inspection of the construction work at disputed holy site in Jerusalem, the Turkish prime minister said Thursday. Recep Tayyip Erdogan said Olmert had shown him photographs of the construction work, but had failed to convince him that it would not harm the holy sites there.

The Israeli premier agreed to a Turkish suggestion for a technical team from Turkey to inspect the site, Erdogan said. "Israel should respect the holy places rather than increase tensions," Erdogan said Thursday ahead of his meeting with Olmert.


and this

The Deputy to the Turkish ambassador to Israel said Friday that no decision had been made about the members of the delegation set to arrive in Israel early next week to examine the construction work at the Mughrabi Gate in Jerusalem. The official was responding to earlier reports that Turkey was considering sending its senior foreign affairs advisor, Ahmet Davutoglu, to lead the delegation.

...Army Radio had reported that Davutoglu, was close to the Hamas leadership in Damascus and had initiated the visit of Hamas leader-in-exile Khaled Mashaal to Ankara following the movement's election victory in January 2006.

Army Radio also quoted officials who had worked with Davutoglu in recent years stressing that he held a pro-Palestinian stance and was not considered to be a friend of Israel.

Nevertheless, the Turkish Embassy official told the Post, "Davutoglu is one of the official advisors to the Turkish prime minister and has always expressed a neutral and constructive attitude towards Israel."

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