Ψάκι: Προσβλητικές οι δηλώσεις Ερντογάν

O πρωθυπουργός της Τουρκίας Ρετζέπ Ταγίπ Ερντογάν κάλεσε σήμερα τις ΗΠΑ να κάνουν την «αυτοκριτική» τους αφότου το αμερικανικό υπουργείο Εξωτερικών έκρινε «προσβλητικές» τις δηλώσεις του σχετικά με την ισραηλινή επίθεση στη Γάζα.

«Εάν οι ΗΠΑ συνεχίσουν να λένε «Ισραήλ, κάνε χρήση του δικαίωματός σου της αυτοάμυνας», είναι αναμφισβήτητα η Ουάσιγκτον που πρέπει να κάνει την αυτοκριτική της» δήλωσε στο τουρκικό ενημερωτικό τηλεοπτικό δίκτυο TGRT ο Τούρκος πρωθυπουργός.

Ο Ερντογάν έχει κατηγορήσει το Ισραήλ «για κρατική τρομοκρατία» και για «γενοκτονία» των Παλαιστινίων.

Την Παρασκευή η εκπρόσωπος του Στέιτ Ντιπάρτμεντ Τζεν Ψάκι είχε ασκήσει κριτική στις δηλώσεις του Ερντογάν ενώ τις χαρακτήρισε «προσβλητικές και ψευδείς». «Στην πραγματικότητα είναι οι ΗΠΑ που μέχρι σήμερα κάνουν ενοχλητικές και προσβλητικές δηλώσεις» σχετικά με την ισραηλινή επίθεση στη Γάζα, είπε ο Τούρκος πρωθυπουργός.

Καταδίκασε επιπλέον εκ νέου τις ισραηλινές στρατιωτικές επιχειρήσεις, κατηγορώντας το Ισραήλ ότι χρησιμοποιεί «δυσανάλογη βία» και ότι σκοτώνει τους Παλαιστίνιους «χωρίς κανέναν οίκτο». «Πώς να αγνοήσουμε αυτό, πώς μια χώρα όπως οι ΗΠΑ μπορούν να κλείνουν τα μάτια απέναντι σε αυτό» υπογράμμισε.

Την ίδια ώρα η Αίγυπτος κάλεσε σήμερα τον επιτετραμμένο της Τουρκίας μετά τις δηλώσεις του Ταγίπ Ερντογάν για τη στάση της κυβέρνησης απέναντι στις συγκρούσεις μεταξύ Ισραήλ και Χαμάς στη Λωρίδα της Γάζας.

Ο πρωθυπουργός της Τουρκίας είχε καταγγείλει το ρόλο της Αιγύπτου και του προέδρου της- που είχε χαρακτηρίσει «τύραννο», Άμπντελ Φάταχ αλ Σίσι. Το υπουργείο Εξωτερικών της Αιγύπτου ενημέρωσε τον επιτετραμμένο ότι «απορρίπτει» την κριτική του Ερντογάν, σύμφωνα με ένα δελτίο τύπου που εξέδωσε.

Ο ΔΙΑΛΟΓΟΣ ΤΗΣ κ. ΨΑΚΙ ΜΕ ΤΟΥΣ ΔΗΜΟΣΙΟΓΡΑΦΟΥΣ

QUESTION: There have been protests in front of the Israeli consulate and embassy in Ankara and in Istanbul and Israel. Recall some of the diplomatic staff to Turkey. Did the Secretary talk about these issues with Foreign Minister Davutoglu? Is there any way you can give us some more detail?

MS. PSAKI: I don’t believe I have many more details. Let me just check and see about whether that came up on the call. Give me just one moment here. I just – I don’t have any additional details on that specifically.

QUESTION: Okay.

MS. PSAKI: We can check for you, certainly.

QUESTION: And today, Prime Minister Erdogan, while talking about the situation in Gaza, he said that Israel is applying state terror as well as undertaking a genocide in Gaza, is his quote. Do you have any view on – would you agree to this?

MS. PSAKI: Well, certainly, we believe his statements are offensive and wrong, and of course, this kind of provocative rhetoric is unhelpful and distracts from urgent efforts to bring about a ceasefire.

QUESTION: Is there a figure that would constitute a genocide? Is there a figure? How many people have to die before something can be termed a genocide – civilians?

MS. PSAKI: There’s a range of definitions, Said, but I don’t have any more information available for you.

QUESTION: Okay. Is the death of 300 Palestinians thus far in Gaza, most of them civilians, does that constitute a genocide in your view?

MS. PSAKI: I don’t believe we’ve called it that. It’s horrific that there have been losses of that many civilian lives.

QUESTION: But independent of the circumstances that are ongoing, would the death of, let’s say, 200 civilians or 150 civilians constitute genocide?

MS. PSAKI: I appreciate your line of questioning. I’m sure we can connect you with an expert on this particular issue, Said.

QUESTION: I don’t believe that you appreciate his line of questioning. I think that you —

MS. PSAKI: Certainly, I always appreciate Said.

QUESTION: Can I – just back on the Prime Minister Erdogan comments, these are pretty strong and, you said, offensive and wrong comments. Do you know if the – anyone from the Administration plans to take this up with either him or with Foreign Minister Davutoglu?

MS. PSAKI: I can certainly check and see if there – if that’s already happened or if there’s a plan otherwise.

QUESTION: Because it would seem to me Turkey is a NATO ally, it’s a country that the government has some relationship with Hamas, and I’m just wondering if you think that they – the Turks, given the comments of the prime minister, have forfeited a role to play in potentially negotiating a ceasefire, if they are showing so much – if their leader is coming out with comments that you find offensive and wrong about your ally, Israel.

MS. PSAKI: No. I think our view and what we’re continuing to convey to any country in the region, including Turkey, is that the most productive role they can play is supporting the Egyptian ceasefire proposal. When there are concerns we have about comments made or actions taken, even when it is a NATO ally, we certainly don’t hesitate to make those concerns known.

QUESTION: So you would say, then, that these comments mean that Turkey or the Government of Turkey is an obstacle rather than a – is an obstacle to peace or to a ceasefire rather than an active participant?

MS. PSAKI: I think I will leave it as I stated, that they’re unhelpful, but again, there’s a role that many countries can play in the region.

QUESTION: But you don’t think that they have forfeited their interest by coming —

MS. PSAKI: No, I don’t.

QUESTION: Okay.

QUESTION: Just one more on Prime Minister Erdogan’s strong —

MS. PSAKI: We’ll go to you next, Said. Go ahead.

QUESTION: Speaking of Prime Minister Erdogan’s strong language, he also talk about there is a crusader movement – today, just a couple hours ago, he said that there’s a crusader against Islam being assembled by the West. And my question is: Does the U.S. play any kind of role in this crusade – new crusader against Islam – was stated by the prime minister again?

MS. PSAKI: I’m not even sure what that’s a reference to or what he meant by those comments, so —

QUESTION: Reference is again Gaza. What’s happening in Gaza according to Prime Minister Erdogan is a new crusader movement against Islam.

MS. PSAKI: I think it’s safe to say that is not an effort the U.S. is undergoing. No.

QUESTION: I wanted to ask you, just to follow up on – back when – before this latest flare-up, whether what Israel is doing today is – falls under collective punishment.

MS. PSAKI: I think —

QUESTION: Would you agree that it falls under collective punishment?

MS. PSAKI: The President of the United States just spoke to this, Said. I don’t think I have anything more to add to it.

QUESTION: Can I ask you, in his calls with Foreign Minister Davutoglu and also with his Qatari counterpart, did he ask them to use their influence with Hamas to try and – to accept a truce, a ceasefire?

MS. PSAKI: Certainly. That’s part of the message, Jo, that he’s conveying and discussing with any of his counterparts in the region, as well as encouraging all countries to support the Egyptian proposal for a ceasefire.

QUESTION: So did he get any joy from either of those two countries as to whether they would use their —

MS. PSAKI: Any joy?

QUESTION: Any – did they say whether they would try and press Hamas, or are they still – are they keeping out of it? Are they just —

MS. PSAKI: Well, I’ll let them, naturally, speak to that. But certainly, we think that they all have a role that they could play, and we’re encouraging them to play that role to the maximist – maximal position.

QUESTION: Just back on the Erdogan comments for a second – this is kind of unrelated to Gaza, but do you have any concerns that inflammatory remarks such as this will have a major negative impact on the rapprochement that you’ve been trying to engineer between the Turks and the Israelis?

MS. PSAKI: They’re certainly not helpful to moving that forward, Matt.

QUESTION: So they’re not helpful to the – resolving the situation in Gaza, they’re not helpful to getting a ceasefire to ultimately resolve – to the peace process more broadly, and even more broadly than that, to the Turkish-Israeli rapprochement, all three.

MS. PSAKI: Well, I think that kind of rhetoric is generally unhelpful.

QUESTION: Turkish prime minister actually said today, under no circumstances will Turkey’s relationship with Israel improve “as long as I am in power.” That’s a quote by him today, so I think that means that rapprochement is dead.

MS. PSAKI: I certainly wouldn’t say that. It’s obviously been an ongoing process that we remain committed to, continuing to encourage, but I certainly wouldn’t say that.

QUESTION: Can I just – I need to go back to Turkey for a second —

MS. PSAKI: Yes.

QUESTION: — but not the prime minister’s comments. There – the atmosphere in Turkey, according to Israelis, according to others, has grown increasingly anti-Israel, to the point where the Israeli Embassy I think is withdrawing some of its people. They – the Israelis are complaining about incitement, not just from the prime minister, but from media outlets in Turkey. I’m wondering if you have any comment about the situation there as it relates to anti-Semitic and anti-Israel sentiment.

MS. PSAKI: Obviously – and I spoke to the comments that were made, and, obviously, the circumstances around it or other anti-Semitic events going on would certainly be of concern to us. I really don’t have anything more, but we can get you something if you need.

QUESTION: Do you think the Turkish officials’ ruling party – the officials – and there are many, including Ankara mayor and many more highly visible officials – are tweeting these anti-Semitic tweets and other statements. Do you think that Turkish officials are playing any role in this anti-Semitic environment?

MS. PSAKI: I’m certainly not going to make a sweeping, general accusation or characterization like that. If we see comments that are of concern or statements that are of concern, we’ll make that known.

ΠΗΓΗ: STATE DEPARTMENT, AFP, ANA-MPA