time to talk Turkey again (note to BushOK, the topic aint Thanksgiving)

[Insula Dei]

Considering Greece and Turkey have fought four major wars against each other, I'm sure Greece welcomed the Israeli aces.

Yes.  I don't doubt they welcomed the IDF planes and pilots.  I also suspect they welcomed the currency too.  

I highly doubt there was a payoff involved.  the Greeks, with all their default trouble, are probably looking to get into a scrap with Turkey...and when it comes to getting into a scrap, Isreal is a pretty good ally to have....and for Israel, Greece being a member of NATO would quiet any complaints from NATO about fighting Turkey, who is also a member of NATO.

SO, we could see the ending of the Euro and the breakup of the EU, the breakup of NATO, and a Greek-Turkish-Jewish war….all within the span of the current football season, which would mean a lot of PIP in the jmfcst household…”Turn it to CNN, I want to watch the Jews and Greeks make some Turkey à la mode…and put CNBC in PIP in the upper left corner, I want to watch the Euro currency implode…but also keep Romo and the Cowboys in PIP in the upper right, just in case Romo's lung decides to explode.”

Jmfcst, really, you ought to let us know now and then that you don't actually believe this stuff. I'm starting to get worried.

[Insula Dei]

I'll get in touch with you the moment the Turkish army starts killing Israeli citizens in International waters, shall I?

But the main thing here is, obviously, that Turkey (and Erdogan for that matter) has a history of normal relations with Israel and of pushing for peace in the region. Now, why would Turkey so completely change its tone in a matter of months?

[Insula Dei]

2009 is a long time ago.  

I was responding to BS's claim that Turkey was turning against the Israel and the west out of nowhere and only because of the (legal) Gaza blockade.  Which is obviously false to any one that is paying attention.

That wasn't exactly my claim. What I was trying to say wasn't that Turkey's beef with Israel was the gaza blockade (it most likely doesn't really care about that), but the way Israel failed to make any sort of reconciliatory gesture towards Ankara after the Flotilla mess-up.

Also, insisting that the blockade is legal is pretty irrelevant. Slavery too was mostcertainly legal.

[Insula Dei]

Well, I don't know what you would perceive to be 'normal' relations with Israel, but as far as non-US puppet governments in that area of the World are concerned, being on speaking terms with the Israeli government is as good as it gets. And Turkey certainly does not have much of a history of pushing for a military confrontation with Israel.

[Insula Dei]

Well, I don't know what you would perceive to be 'normal' relations with Israel, but as far as non-US puppet governments in that area of the World are concerned, being on speaking terms with the Israeli government is as good as it gets. And Turkey certainly does not have much of a history of pushing for a military confrontation with Israel.

I guess that's the closest to an "I was wrong" anyone is ever going to get out of you.

Well, if plainly rehearsing my first comment counts as admitting I was wrong, yeah, that's as close as you're gonna get.

[Insula Dei]

Oh no, I do accept the idea that Turkey-Israel relations were going slowly down-hill over the last few years , but when you look at the relations between the two countries before the flotilla incident and 18 months later, you have to admit that the fall-out has certainly immensely accelerated the process and that it made it possible for the two countries to suddenly start talking in quite warlike rhetoric.