ANKARA - Turkish Foreign Minister Ahmet Davutoglu said, "I was going to go to Washington, D.C. to meet with Prime Minister Binyamin Netanyahu of Israel. Even a date was set for the meeting. I changed my mind after Israeli forces raided the civilian ship on Monday. Thus, Israel destroyed another chance of negotiation."
In a tele-interview with the international news channel CNN, Davutoglu, who was in Jeddah to attend an executive board meeting of the Organization of the Islamic Conference (OIC), said, "there were a Nobel-laureate person, European parliamentarians and a number of journalists on board the ships. If someone claims that there was a terrorist among the passengers, let us know his/her name. In that case, we can launch an investigation. But if there was no terrorists and all those people on board the ships were civilians, Israel, then, must be responsible. We call on them to share information about any accusation against any of the passengers."
Asked whether Turkey and Israel were still allied, Davutoglu said, "it was Israel which changed its policies. When they changed policies from negotiations and peace to violence, we had to give a response."
"In fact, I was set to meet with Israeli Prime Minister Netanyahu in Washington, D.C. on Tuesday about details of the indirect talks between Israel and Syria. I changed my mind after Israeli forces raided the civilian ship on Monday. Thus, Israel destroyed another chance of negotiation," he said.
"There have always been very good relations between Turkey and Israel. Turkey has been a safe haven for Jewish people. Turkey was one of the first countries recognizing the Israeli state. But, we have some problems with the existing Israeli administration and policies. We cannot tolerate a policy of tension," he said.