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Entries in Greece (2)

Wednesday
Jul212010

Middle East Inside Line: Turkey-Hamas-Israel, Netanyahu Denies "Map", No Russia Missiles to Iran?

Turkey, Hamas, and Israel: Turkish Foreign Minister Ahmet Davutoglu, having gone to Damascus for discussions with Syrian President Bashar Assad and Lebanese Prime Minister Saad Hariri, also reportedly met Hamas political bureau chief Khaled Meshaal on Monday. They spoke about the future of the reconciliation talks between Fatah and Hamas and the continuation of efforts to lift the siege on Gaza.

Meanwhile, Israel took a  positive step towards Ankara. "In light of the calm in Turkey and the absence of large-scale anti-Israeli demonstrations," Israel's Counter Terrorism Bureau lifted a severe warning to Israelis to avoid travel to Turkey.

Middle East Inside Line: Syria-Turkey-Lebanon Condemn Israel, Netanyahu Map “Gap”, Israel’s Iron Dome System


However, this is not the end of the story. The Israeli Foreign Ministry requested assurances from Turkey that three ships belonging to the Turkish organisation IHH, backer of May's Freedom Flotilla will not be used for another attempt to run the blockade on Gaza. The Turkish daily Hurriyet reported that in past cases, Israel has required assurances only from the organizers rather than the Government.

Israel Denies Map for Talks with Palestine: The Prime Minister's Office stated on Tuesday that Benjamin Netanyahu had not presented a map of a possible border agreement and land swaps in recent discussions over Palestine, as alleged by the London-based Al-Sharq al-Awsat.

Russia Not Selling S-300s to Iran?: According to Interfax, Russian military official Alexander Fomin on Tuesday, without referring to the S-300 by name, but pledged Moscow would desist from supplying “large missile systems” to Iran in accordance with the sanctions backed by Russia at the United Nations.

Israel welcomed Moscow's statement.

Israel's "Close" Relations with Greece: Greek Prime Minister George Papandreou is coming to Israel on Wednesday. This will be the first visit to Israel by a Greek prime minister since Konstantinos Mitsotakis came in 1992.

Ahead of the visit, The Jerusalem Post reports:
People in government said there was no doubt that the recent tension with Turkey has led to a warming of the relationship between Israel and some of Turkey’s historic rivals, such as Greece, Cyprus and Bulgaria. The Cypriot and Bulgarian foreign ministers paid visits to Israel earlier this year.

According to one diplomatic official, the Greeks – looking at the Israeli-Turkish, andTurkish-US tensions – are realizing that strategic alliances in the region are changing, and that this might be a good time to get closer to Israel as a way of warming ties with Washington.

When Israel had a close strategic alliance with Turkey, the official said, Athens gave up any thought of forging such an alliance with Israel.

But now the situation with Ankara has changed, and Athens is seeing more opportunities with Israel.
Sunday
Jul112010

UPDATED Gaza Latest: Ship Sent by Gadhafi's Son Breaking Israeli Blockade?

UPDATE 1315 GMT: Yousseuf Sawani, a director of the Gaddafi International Charity and Development Foundation, says there are no plans for the aid ship to dock at the Egyptian port of El-Arish.

"This is definitely a part of the campaign against the ship, a campaign of distortion, but we are definitely heading towards Gaza, because that is where aid should be heading to," he told Al Jazeera.
"This is a purely humane mission, it is neither provocative nor hostile," he said.

Israeli Foreign Minister Avigdor Lieberman maintained that West Jerusalem will not compromise: "I say very clearly, no ship will arrive in Gaza. We will not permit our sovereignty to be harmed," Lieberman said on Army Radio.

Gaza Special: UN Cancels Middle East Session But Begins Freedom Flotilla Enquiry


UPDATE 1030 GMT: The Libyan Government has told Greece that the aid ship will dock in el-Arish on the coast of Egypt's Sinai Peninsula.

"We confirmed their destination in talks with the Libyan ambassador and the ship's agent," Greek foreign ministry spokesman Grigoris Delavekouras told the Associated Press.

A Moldavan-flagged ship named "Amalthia", carrying aid from Libya, is departing from the Greek port of Lavrio, with 12 crew, 15 activists and supporters, and about 2,000 tons of humanitarian aid. The goods are supplied by the Gadhafi International Charity and Development Association, which is headed by Saif Al-Islam Gaddafi, the second-born son of the Libyan leader Muammar Gadhafi.

On Friday, Israeli ambassador to the UN Gabriela Shalev wrote to UN Secretary General Ban Ki-moon:
Israel calls upon the international community to exert its influence on the government of Libya to demonstrate responsibility and prevent the ship from departing to the Gaza Strip.

Israel reserves the right under international law to prevent this ship from violating the existing naval blockade on the Gaza Strip.

Reportedly having reached an agreement with both Greece and Moldova, Israeli Foreign Ministry announced on Saturday that the captain of the ship changed the destination to Egypt's el-Arish port.

Later Saturday, Palestinian Legislative Council member Jamal Al-Khudari and Israeli Arab MK Ahmed Tibi (Ra'am Ta'al) told the Palestinian news agency Ma'an that the aid ship will head to Gaza's port in the coming hours and will not be diverted.