It is not as if the Turkish Prime Minister, Recep Tayyip Erdogan, was the only one arguing the side of Gaza during a panel discussion that took place in Davos, Switzerland on Thursday. In fact, all accounts are that he was in friendly company, backed by UN Secretary General Ban Ki-moon and Amr Moussa, the Arab League's secretary general. The only voice arguing the side of Israel was that of Israeli president Shimon Peres. Nevertheless, Erdogan felt that he was not being allowed to make his point, given that the final 25 minutes of the discussion had been reserved for Peres to rebut the arguments of those who were critical of the mass killings that were the result of Israel's 3-week offensive against the territory. So, he became so angry when he was cut off by the moderator that he gathered up his papers and walked off the stage. The semiofficial Anatolian News Agency reported that Peres later called Erdogan to apologize for any misunderstanding, a report denied by Peres' office in Jerusalem. It would, of course, behoove Peres to smooth any of Erdogan's ruffled feathers over the incident given that Turkey has been mediating between Israel and Syria, both of whom at this point would prefer some kind of a working relationship with one another as opposed to the nominal state of war that currently exists. Whether the apology took place or not is not the crux of the issue, however. Most importantly, Erdogan drew the attention of the world to the reaction of a moderate state in the region, one which has a peaceful relationship with Israel. The walk-off amounts to an important diplomatic incident. Of course, it might have been better, perhaps, had Erdogan been given the opportunity to expose the charade of Israel's victimhood and been able to point out that no nuclear state which invades a fenced off “compound,” killing about 1,330 people, many of them civilians, while losing 13 of its own soldiers should hardly be considered an act of self-defense. In lieu of that, an expression of exasperation and anger will have to do. __
