Turkey's =
_relate> Radical Drift=20
The Islamic charity behind the Gaza flotilla and its links to terror.
=20
So the Prime Minister of Turkey calls Israel "a festering boil in the =
Middle East that spreads hate and enmity," while his foreign minister =
compares Monday's Israeli naval raid on a flotilla of ships headed for =
the Gaza Strip, in which nine passengers were killed, to the attacks of =
September 11, 2001. For good measure, the Turks have also wagged their =
finger at the Obama Administration for not immediately denouncing =
Israel's actions.
Yet the more facts that come to light about the flotilla, its passengers =
and their sponsors, the more it seems clear that Prime Minister Recep =
Tayyip Ergodan's government, far more so than Israel's, must be held to =
account for Monday's violent episode. Maybe that's something the U.N. =
Human Rights Council, which on Wednesday condemned Israel for an =
"outrageous attack" and voted 32-3 to set up a "fact-finding mission" =
(with the U.S. in opposition), might get around to investigating, though =
we wouldn't hold our breath.
The Turkish accounting should begin with a full explanation from the =
government of its relationship with the IHH, an Istanbul-based Islamic =
"charity" that purchased three of the six boats used in the flotilla =
from the city government, sent hundreds of its activists along with it, =
and reportedly has ties to Turkey's ruling Islamist AKP Party.=20
The IHH=E2=80=94the Turkish acronym for the "Foundation for Human Rights =
and Freedoms and Humanitarian Relief"=E2=80=94has widely reported links =
to Hamas, the terrorist group that runs Gaza and most directly threatens =
Israel. Moreover, in the 2001 Seattle trial of Ahmed Ressam, the =
would-be Millennium bomber, French counterterrorism magistrate =
Jean-Louis Bruguiere testified that the IHH had played an "important =
role" in Ressam's plot to bomb LAX airport on New Year's Day, 2000, and =
that there was "a rather close relation" between the bomber and the =
Turkish group.=20
"The IHH is an NGO," said Judge Bruguiere, "but it was also a type of =
cover-up . . . in order to obtain forged documents and to obtain =
different forms of infiltration for Mujahideen in combat." In an =
interview this week with the Associated Press, the judge said he did not =
know whether IHH was still in the terror business, but he added that =
"they were basically helping al Qaeda when [Osama] bin Laden started to =
want to target U.S. soil."
In a 2006 study for the Danish Institute for International Studies, =
terrorism analyst Evan Kohlmann noted that Turkey had known of the IHH =
links to terrorism for at least a decade.=20
"Turkish authorities began their own domestic criminal investigation of =
IHH as early as December 1997, when sources revealed that leaders of IHH =
were purchasing automatic weapons from other regional Islamic militant =
groups. IHH's bureau in Istanbul was thoroughly searched, and its local =
officers were arrested. Security forces uncovered an array of disturbing =
items, including firearms, explosives, bomb-making instructions, and a =
'jihad flag.' After analyzing seized IHH documents, Turkish authorities =
concluded that 'detained members of IHH were going to fight in =
Afghanistan, Bosnia and Chechnya.' . . .=20
"An examination of IHH's phone records in Istanbul showed repeated =
telephone calls in 1996 to an Al-Qaeda guesthouse in Milan and various =
Algerian terrorist operatives active elsewhere in =
Europe=E2=80=94including the notorious Abu el-Ma'ali, who has been =
subsequently termed by U.S. officials as a 'junior Osama Bin Laden,'" =
the Danish study said.
No wonder that Israel was not prepared to let this flotilla break its =
blockade of Gaza. As Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said Wednesday, =
"this was no Love Boat," and Israel is entirely within its rights to =
prevent Hamas from linking with groups suspected of supplying arms and =
money to terrorists. Israel had also gone out of its way to give Turkey =
fair warning, with Al Jazeera reporting that the Israeli government =
"held a meeting with ambassadors of the European countries participating =
in the convoy and Turkey to tell them it would not allow the Freedom =
Flotilla ships to dock at Gaza."
Yet knowing all this, the Turkish government made no effort to prevent =
the flotilla from setting sail. The government also seems unembarrassed =
that the IHH belongs to a Saudi-based umbrella group of Islamic =
charities known as "The Union of the Good," which the U.S. Treasury =
designated a terrorist organization in November 2008. On the contrary, =
Mr. Erdogan has been outspoken in his calls for the world to recognize =
Hamas, even as his relations with the more moderate Palestinian =
president Mahmoud Abbas have been notably cool.
That attitude conforms with the general pattern of Mr. Erdogan's foreign =
policy. For all his denunciations of Israel's alleged brutality in =
Monday's raid, he was among the first foreign leaders to congratulate =
Mahmoud Ahmadinejad for his "victory" in last year's presidential =
election. He's also had no trouble getting close to Syria's Bashar =
al-Assad, despite the U.N.'s investigation into Syria's role in the 2005 =
assassination of Lebanese premier Rafik Hariri.
So much, then, for the notion that Jerusalem has needlessly junked its =
friendship with Ankara for the sake of stopping a mere ship of fools. =
That "friendship" had already been degraded by a Turkish government that =
appears to have an ingrained hostility toward the Jewish state, =
remarkable sympathies for nearby radical regimes, and an attitude toward =
extremist groups like the IHH that borders on complicity.=20
All of this should concern the Obama Administration no less than it does =
the leadership in Jerusalem. The President has invested considerable =
efforts in courting Mr. Erdogan, his government and Turkish public =
opinion. The reward has been a Turkey that conducts a diplomacy of =
obstruction when it comes to Iran, along with a diplomacy of provocation =
when it comes to Israel.=20
Whatever this might achieve for Mr. Erdogan politically in the short =
run, in the long-run it means a Turkey admired only by neighboring =
despots, one that no responsible country can trust.=20
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