Fallout from the Goldstone Report on war crimes committed by Israel (and Hamas) in Gaza is only just beginning. But even before the UN report was issued, Israel’s relations with Turkey, once a staunch ally, began to sour. In a meeting with Shimon Peres, the president of Israel, the Turkish prime minister walked out as Peres attempted to rationalize the death toll, and just recently Turkey canceled a joint military operation.
The Turkish TV special was furthermore broadcast on a government sponsored network. Actions seen in the special, it should be noted, are portrayals, and not actual footage from the Gaza invasion.
Here is Ynet’s report about it.
Seeing is believing? A new television show which debuted in Turkey recently may provide a partial answer to the recent spike in anti-Israeli sentiment evident in the country. “Ayrilik” (“Farewell”), a prime-time show which airs on Turkish State-sponsored television channel TRT1 depicts the Israel Defense Forces as a murderous, bloodthirsty army.
Following Ynet’s report on the show, Foreign Minister Avigdor Lieberman summoned the acting Turkish ambassador to Israel to a meeting with high-ranking Foreign Ministry officials in order to protest against the TV show.
“Broadcasting this series is a serious case of state-sponsored incitement. Such a series, which doesn’t even have a weak connection to reality, and which presents the IDF’s soldiers as murderers of innocent children, is unworthy of being broadcast in enemy states, let alone in a country which had full diplomatic relations with Israel.”
Over 300 Palestinian children, however, were killed during the three week Israeli assault on Gaza.
