Diplomatic dispute
January 13, 2010
Israel's deputy foreign minister, Danny Ayalon, has apologized for his conduct during a meeting with Turkey's ambassador to Tel Aviv on Monday.
The meeting had been called by Israel to protest against a Turkish television drama it said depicted "Israelis and Jews as baby-snatchers and war criminals". It is just the latest in a series of diplomatic rows between the once friendly allies.
Ambassador Ahmet Oguz Celikko described the meeting to reporters as the most humiliating experience of his 35-year diplomatic career.
In front of photographers and TV crews, Celikko was made to sit lower than Ayonlon. He was also spoken to in Hebrew and was refused a handshake, among other behavior that broke diplomatic protocol.
However, Ayalon has now signaled that he regrets his actions.
Turkey receives apology
"My protest against the attacks on Israel in Turkey remains valid," Ayalon said. "Nevertheless, it is not my way to disrespect ambassadors' honor and in the future I will clarify my position in a diplomatically acceptable manner."
Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said he was glad that an apology had been made.
"The prime minister feels that the protest issued to the Turkish ambassador was fundamentally correct but it should have been conveyed in the conventional diplomatic mode," a statement from Netanyahu's office said.
Other Israeli cabinet members said Ayonlon's treatment of the Turkish ambassador had been unnecessarily harsh and humiliating.
Relations between Turkey and Israel cooled after Turkey's Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan criticized last winter's military offensive in the Gaza Strip.
On Tuesday, Israeli Prime Minister Netanyahu accused Turkey of distancing itself from the West and of forging stronger ties to Islamic states seen as Israel's enemies, including Iran.
vj/dpa/AFP/AP/Reuters
Editor: Chuck Penfold