Erdogan: Jewish tycoon mediated between Israel, Turkey
Turkish PM tells Hurriyet newspaper Israel sent Jewish businessman, likely Ronald Lauder, to Ankara to mediate between two nations
Ynet
Published: 09.20.12, 08:28 / Israel News
[Emphasis added by HAL 9000]Turkish Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan said last Monday that a Jewish tycoon was sent to Ankara to mediate between Israel and Turkey.
A newspaper report suggests that the mediator is Ronald Lauder, a close associate of Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu who previously mediated between Israel and Syria.
In an interview with Hurriyet newspaper, Erdogan said, "They sent us the world's richest Jew several months ago." He was answering a question on the current state of Israel Turkey relations. He noted that Israel has ties with one Muslim state and advised Israeli leaders to maintain good relations with Ankara.
Erdogan further stressed he has not forgotten about the 2010 Gaza flotilla raid, in which nine Turks were killed. He stipulated three conditions necessary for the reestablishment of relations with Ankara: an apology for the killing of Turkish citizens, compensation for the victims' families and the lifting of the Gaza blockade.
Since the prime minister made this statement to a local newspaper, this was probably for internal consumption. I can understand that Mr. Erdogan rejected the Jewish leader representing Israel by insisting that unless Israel lifts the blockade of Gaza, he will not normalize relations with Israel. But why mention to the Hurriyet newspaper that this Jewish representative is the richest Jew in the world? What is the relevance in this context? Why associate Jews with money when the issue has nothing to do with finance?
It seems to me that what Mr. Erdogan is trying to emphasize that he is so uncompromising and serious that even the Jewish money could not make him change his mind about his support for Palestinians. I agree that no amount of money can buy Mr. Erdogan, but his choice of words and generalizations are inappropriate for a person at his official level.