“Israel needs a country like Turkey in the region, and we also need to accept that we need Israel. This is the reality in the region,” he says • Meanwhile, Erdogan’s office backtracks after he cites Hitler’s Germany as ideal presidential system.
Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan, whose record of vehemently attacking Israel is well documented, shifted to a tone of appeasement over the weekend in efforts to finalize a normalization agreement with the Jewish state.
“Israel needs a country like Turkey in the region,” he said, “and we also need to accept that we need Israel. This is the reality in the region.”
Erdogan emphasized that “if steps toward partnership based on honesty are taken, then there will be normalization.”
Relations between the two countries broke down after the 2010 Mavi Marmara incident, in which eight Turkish citizens and one Turkish-American were killed when Israeli naval commandos boarded the Gaza-bound vessel to enforce the naval blockade imposed on the Gaza Strip. A 10th Turkish citizen died later of his injuries. In the aftermath of the raid, Turkey became one of the strongest critics of Israeli actions in Gaza.
Israel apologized to Turkey for the deaths and agreed to compensate the victims’ families under a US-brokered arrangement in 2013. But efforts to restore ties faltered amid new Israeli action in Gaza.
Meanwhile on Thursday, Erdogan sparked controversy by citing Hitler’s Germany as one example in history of the presidential system for which he has long advocated.
His office on Friday sought to clarify in a statement that Erdogan was not advocating a Hitler-style government when he called for a state system with a strong executive.
“Whether it is a parliamentary system or a presidential system, bad rules that end in disasters can emerge if the system is misused, as it was by Hitler’s Germany,” the statement said. “It is unacceptable to reflect the president’s statement as a positive reference to Hitler’s Germany.”
The statement from Erdogan’s office also said the Turkish president has declared the Holocaust, anti-Semitism and Islamophobia as crimes against humanity, and that it was out of the question for him to cite Hitler’s Germany as a good example.
Turkey’s existing constitution limits the powers of the president and places the prime minister in charge of the government—as in many European countries.
Critics fear that a presidential system would place too much power in Erdogan’s hands.
Opposition parties have said they favor constitutional changes to make Turkey more democratic but are wary of turning the system to one with a strong executive.
By Israel Hayom Staff
