As Barack Obama tours Israel and the Palestinian
territories, Turkish media has seized on Recep Tayyip Erdoğan’s remarks during his concurrent visit to Denmark.
“Erdoğan clarifies his
comments on Zionism”, Milliyet reported yesterday, quoting comments the prime minister made to the Danish
daily Politiken. What he actually did was clarify his views on Israel and Palestine
– views that we already knew.
Politiken put it to Mr Erdoğan that his remarks last
month were understood by some to question the very legitimacy of Israel’s
existence and asked whether this was correct.
The prime minister responded, amply, with
Turkey’s official line: he is critical of Israeli policy and the current government,
not the state of Israel. He supports a two-state solution. He frequently
condemns anti-Semitism.
The crucial sentence is his final one: “In this context,
I stand behind my remarks in Vienna.”
