CAIRO – During the economic forum in Davos on January 29, 2009, Turkish Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan had a tough clash with Israeli President Shimon Peres over Israel's brutal offensive in Gaza. After their angry exchange, the Turkish PM told Peres: "When it comes to killing, you know how to kill." Then, he collected his papers and walked out of the session. Perhaps, in watching Erdogan storm out, Peres wondered whether Ankara acted any differently with the Kurdish rebels. Arabs, who are always in sore need of someone to speak on their behalf in international forums, hailed Erdogan as a national hero. Last week Ankara, disappointed by the UN's final report on the Israeli siege of Gaza, came up with something new: dismissing the Israeli Ambassador. This time, the Arabs cheered Ankara even more loudly for doing this and also 'suspending' joint military co-operation with Tel Aviv. When Syrian President Bashar el-Assad acted like Israel and turned the turrets of his tanks on his people to quell mass demonstrations, Ankara adopted a completely different stance. It refused to have a change of heart towards the Syrian regime, which, like Israel, has committed atrocities against peaceful demonstrators. Nor was Ankara willing to exploit its strong relations with Damascus to persuade Bashar to stop the mass killing of his people. Apparently realising that his government's silence over the killings in Syria was embarrassing, the Turkish Prime Minister decided to send his Foreign Minister, Ahmed Davutglu, to Damascus. Prior to Davutglu's departure for the Syrian capital, Erdogan used elusive diplomatic language, saying: "We have reached the end of our tether and that's why I am sending my Foreign Minister to Syria." He had to tone down his remarks when they drew a harsh response from Damascus. Bashar's presidential adviser, Bouthina Shaaban, said: "If Davutoglu delivers a firm message to Syria, he will hear a firmer reply about the Turkish stance." The harsh Syrian reply silenced Erdogan. He refused to repeat his admirable showdown with Peres and openly admonish the Syrian President. Davutglu simply urged the Syrian regime to finish off the peaceful demonstrators within no more than two weeks. Damascus' harsh warning to Turkey not to overstep the line in connection with the mass demonstrations calling for freedom and social justice must have reminded Ankara that it is doing the same to quell the Kurdish revolt. The fact that Israel does not have a Kurdish community should explain Ankara's tough line on Israel concerning its war on Gaza. Kurds are the largest ethnic minority in Syria, making up 10 per cent of the country's approximately 22 million people, most of whom are Sunni Muslims. The majority of Kurds in Syria originally came from Turkey in the 1920s. In Turkey, Kurds comprise about 20 per cent of its approximately 74 million citizens. Turkey appears to have real concerns that the Arab Spring will encourage the Kurdish community to do likewise and step up their longstanding campaign for more freedom and greater proportional representation in Parliament. In the meantime, the Kurdistan Workers Party have been campaigning for more than 27 years for a breakaway Kurdish state, after the collapse of efforts to find a negotiated settlement. Like Israel, which, defiantly ignoring international law and Palestinian rights, uses force against the Palestinian resistance movement, Ankara uses its army against the Kurdish rebels. Ankara must be delighted that the Assad dynasty in Damascus is doing it a great favour by controlling the movements of the Kurds in Syria. Ankara's Kurdish nightmare must have encouraged Syrian officials to stare sternly in the eyes of the Turkish FM, when he landed in Damascus to tell them that his Prime Minister had reached the end of his tether. Syria and Turkey are treating their people as Israel treats Palestinians. When Ankara and dictatorial Arab regimes condemn Israel for its brutalities against the Palestinians, Tel Aviv abruptly tells them: 'Let he who is without sin cast the first stone'.
