Turkish Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan has received a hero's welcome on his return to Istanbul after he stormed off stage at the World Economic Forum yesterday during an angry discussion with Israeli President Shimon Peres over the crisis in Gaza.
Thousands turned out in the Turkish capital to greet Mr Erdogan's plane as he returned home from the Swiss summit.
Mr Erdogan, 54, was visibly angered after Peres had said that Israel was committed to peace and blamed Hamas for the situation in Gaza, where Israel staged a three-week military operation earlier this month.
He then attempted to respond to Peres’s defence of Israel's military actions when the moderator cut him off, saying the debate had run overtime.
The Turkish Prime Minister protested that he was being given less time than Peres, said he would not return to Davos and quickly left the stage.
Mr Peres had asked Mr Erdogan directly: "What would you do if you were to have in Istanbul every night a hundred rockets?"
The visibly angry Turkish Prime Minister responded strongly to Peres's repeated question to the panel of what they would do in Israel's position.
"President Peres you are older than I am. Maybe you are feeling guilty and that is why you are so strong in your words.
"You killed people. I remember the children who died on beaches," Erdogan said, through an interpreter.
The encounter underscored Turkey’s criticism of Israel’s 22-day offensive against Hamas in Gaza that concluded on Jan. 18. While Israel and Turkey have full diplomatic relations and extensive trade ties, Mr Erdogan said yesterday indirect peace talks between Israel and Syria, which his aides mediated for more than a year, have been “shelved.”
During the session, Mr Erdogan accused Israel of not respecting the democratic rights of the Palestinians and of using excessive force in Gaza. Peres, 85, responded that Israel was trying to defend itself against Hamas rocket attacks and accused Hamas of being a “cruel, dictatorial regime.”
The Israeli operation left at least 1,375 Palestinians dead, according to the Palestinian emergency services department in the Gaza Strip. Thirteen Israelis were killed, the Israeli army said.
Speaking to reporters later, Erdogan said he was annoyed that the moderator, David Ignatius, a Washington Post columnist, didn’t let him make his points. He said he “didn’t target” Jews, Israelis or Peres, though he called Peres’s arguments “untrue.” Erdogan added that he may reconsider returning to Davos. Ignatius couldn’t be immediately reached for comment.
“We can’t start the debate again we just don’t have time,” Ignatius said during the session as the other panelists, Arab League head Amre Moussa and United Nations General Secretary Ban Ki-moon, looked on.
Peres’s defence of Israel’s military operation was “belligerent,” said Abu Eesa Niamatullah, an imam from northwest England. “And I don’t just say that because I’m a Muslim.”
Stuart Eizenstat, a partner at the law firm Covington & Burling LLP and a former U.S. deputy Treasury secretary in the Clinton administration, said Peres’s comments were the “single best defense of why Israel reacted to Gaza.”
“Nobody can solve this problem with a temper tantrum any more than you can solve it with an Uzi or a Kalashnikov,” Eric Clemons, professor of management and information management at Wharton School at University of Pennsylvania. “I’m surprised - the rest of the day was so hopeful.”
Agencies