Israel slams Turkish leader for criticizing it, snubs Turkish ambassador
By APTuesday, January 12, 2010
Israel angrily rejects Turkish leader’s charges
JERUSALEM — Israel has denounced Turkey’s latest criticism of the Jewish state.
Turkey’s prime minister on Monday called Israel a threat to peace and repeated his off-stated charge that Israel used disproportionate force against Palestinians during the Gaza war a year ago.
The Foreign Ministry says Israel has “the full right” to protect itself and “the Turks should be the last to preach morality.”
Late Monday, Israel’s deputy foreign minister, Danny Ayalon, summoned the Turkish ambassador to criticize a Turkish television drama depicting Israeli security forces as kidnapping children and shooting old men.
As the meeting started, Ayalon told cameramen the ambassador was pointedly seated on a sofa lower than his own chair. He also noted there was no Turkish flag on display.
