Author: Peter Lyukimson, Israel. Exclusively for VK
Israeli and Turkish media report that at the Munich
Conference the Turkish Foreign Minister Ahmet Davutoglu pointedly
refused to shake hands with Israeli Defense Minister Ehud Barak. In
this case, Achmat Davutoglu shook hands with almost all the participants.
"Apparently, the distance between us at the table was so large that
the Turkish minister could not reach me," Ehud Barak joked.
"It is not in the table," Davutoglu countered, "the distance between us
is great, until you meet all our requirements."
The Israeli Defense Ministry commented that "this incident does not
deserve attention, it is just one more manifestation of the crisis in
relations between the countries."
Meanwhile, U.S. Secretary of State John Kerry, during his visit to
Turkey, said that his country sees the normalization of US-Turkish
relations as one of the main objectives of its foreign policy. "Both
Turkey and Israel are allies of America, and we see that it is very
important that both countries return to work with each other, to
restore the historical union that has always linked the Jewish and
Turkish peoples," John Kerry said.
At the same time, the U.S. Secretary of State condemned the recent statement
by Turkish Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan, in which he equated Zionism
with Nazism. "We do not just disagree with that statement, but also
firmly oppose it," Kerry said.
