Al-Qaida leader attacks Turkey over Israel stance

AL-QAIDA’S No 2 offered his condolences in an audio message issued yesterday for the nine Turkish pro-Palestinian activists killed in a confrontation with Israeli commandos, but slammed the Turkish government for its support of Israel.

The 20-minute Arabic language recording from Ayman al-Zawahri, which was posted on a website frequently used by militants, is the latest effort by al-Qaida to expand its message to Muslims beyond the Arab world.

The Egyptian-born al-Zawahri called on the Turkish people to pressure their government to cut its military and economic ties withIsrael and pull its forces out of Afghanistan, where Turkish troops serve as part of the NATO mission.

“The Turkish government shows sympathy with the Palestinians through statements or sending some relief aid, but actually it recognises Israel, engages in trade, carries out military training and shares information with it,” he said.

“The change will come when the Turkish people urge their government to stop cooperating with Israel... or taking part in killing Muslims in Afghanistan,” he added.

Turkey was once Israel’s strongest ally in the Muslim world, with close military ties and a vigorous bilateral trade. In the wake of the 2009 Israeli assault on Gaza, however, ties between the two countries began to chill.

They received another blow in May from Israel’s raid on an aid flotilla seeking to break the Israeli blockade on the Gaza Strip that left nine pro-Palestinian Turkish activists dead. Ankara has demanded Israel apologise for the raid; the Jewish state so far has refused to do so.