Turkey Punishing Israeli travelers

[talsor]

The Foreign Ministry was watching carefully to determine whether the harsh treatment meted out to Israeli travelers going through Istanbul’s airport on Monday was an aberration or part of a new policy directive coming from an Ankara keen on punishing Israel for not apologizing for the Mavi Marmara incident.

“We have to watch and see what will happen on future flights,” the official said. “We are monitoring the situation.”

What one woman traveler described on Israel Radio as a “humiliation” in Istanbul’s airport, where she was forced in a dark room to strip and undergo a full body search, came on the same day the Turkish Foreign Ministry ordered out of the country all diplomats at Israel’s embassy in Ankara above the level of second secretary – the lowest level in the Israeli Foreign Service.

Foreign Ministry officials confirmed Ella Alphek, the number two diplomat at the Ankara embassy, was summoned to the Turkish Foreign Ministry and told that everyone above the second secretary level must leave the country by Wednesday.

Israel’s envoy to Ankara, Gabi Levy, is already back in Israel and set to retire from the Foreign Ministry.

There were conflicting reports whether the expulsion also pertained to Israel’s military attaché in Ankara, as well as the Mossad and police attachés. Among the few lowlevel diplomats who will remain at the embassy are its spokesman, Nizar Amir.

Amir, from the Druse town of Julis in the Galilee, only arrived in Ankara a few days ago, after completing the foreign ministry's cadets course in the summer.

Turkey on Friday already lowered its representation in its embassy in Tel Aviv to the second secretary level.

Israel’s consulate in Istanbul, which deals primarily with consular matters, has so far not been impacted by the downgrade of ties.

Moshe Pearlman, a businessman from Haifa who traveled through Istanbul on the way back from China, described his ordeal at the Istanbul airport on Israel Radio.

“I went to the Israel gate in Istanbul where two security officials wearing a vest that read ‘Police’ asked if I had an Israeli passport. When I said ‘yes,’ they put me in another line.”

Pearlman said he then went through a security check the likes of which he had never experienced.

“I went into a room, they locked the door and they told me to take off my clothes,” he said. “I thought at first that they wanted me only to take off the shirt, so I took it off. He then said to take off my t-shirt, my shoes, my socks, my pants – and I remained in my underwear. He then told me to take off the underwear. I asked if that was an order, and he was taken aback, and said, ‘Welcome to Turkey.’” Pearlman said he approached another security officer outside the room for an explanation, and was told these were the directives they had received.

[Azamat]

Forcing a traveller to remove his/her underwear is a serious violation.

[jjmuneer]

This is a disgrace, as a Kurd and above all as a human being. You can't do this and think your going to get away with it. One day all these criminals are going straight to hell.

[talsor]

Israel has been doing too , but on a totally different level .

Turkish ambassador to Israel Ahmet Oguz Celikkol is made to sit on a low sea and no turkish flag if you notice .



Remember Marmara incident ?, based on what Kerdogan said Recently after the UN pulmar(i think) report which exonerated Israel from any wrong doing . the next humanitarian shipment will be accompanied by turkish warships , so Israel either have to protect it's terrerotry by attacking turkish warship (which means War) or suffer the humiliation on the international stage .




and by the way Turkish prime minister is in Egypt and while or before getting there Israeli Embassy in Egypt was stormed by a mob (is the war looming ?)