Erdogan-Olmert spat may raise tensions between Turkey and Israel

"The comments made by Olmert are inconsistent. Which part of his remarks will you believe in," Erdogan told at a joint press conference with his Croatian counterpart Ivo Sanader when asked about the Israeli prime minister's recent statements.   Â

Olmert told a press conference in Jerusalem last Sunday: "Why should I say to any prime minister what the military plans of the State of Israel are for defending its citizens?"

Olmert was speaking of Erdogan's criticism that the Jewish leader did not tell his Turkish counterpart that Israel was planning an attack on Gaza during an Ankara meeting that came a few days before the offensive.

"First you will want a country to act as mediator. Then you come to this country and discuss the fifth round (of indirect talks between Israel and Syria). More interestingly, you say you did not know about it (the timing of the Gaza offensive) initially. Then you say 'why should I inform about it'," Erdogan told the press conference.Â

"These (statements) create distrust regarding the future. Leaders cannot create sense of distrust. Politics is not an institution that produces distrust," he added.

 

Olmert had said Sunday there were two reasons why he did not inform Erdogan about last month's Gaza offensive during the meeting, in which the leaders discussed Turkey-mediated indirect talks between Israel and Syria. Â

"One is that on Monday, I didn't know that we would attack on Saturday. How could I know? On Tuesday, Wednesday, they were shooting 50, 70 rockets and missiles a day against all our cities in the south, and we just decided that enough is enough and we have to respond," he said.

"But I also said, quite frankly, I didn't call the president of the United States, my good friend, George W. Bush, at that time, and say to him, I'm going to attack Gaza.  I didn't call my good friend, Gordon Brown or Nicolas Sarkozy or Angela Merkel.

"Why should I say to any prime minister what the military plans of the State of Israel are for defending its citizens? I don't think that it was the right thing to do. I don't think that I had to do it and I was quite unhappy with the feelings that were expressed by the Turkish prime minister," he told Sunday's conference.