Likud MK Danny Danon castigated Turkish Prime Minister Tayyip Erdogan in an opinion piece in the Washington Times , for "the audacity" to demand that Israel apologize for the May 2010 incident involving the Gaza-bound ship Mavi Marmara. "In fact, the Turkish government owes Israel an apology for this attack, along with other recent actions that have threatened the lives of Israeli citizens," argues Danon. Turkey "should apologize for encouraging the sending, under false pretenses, of anti-Israel activists into the country’s sovereign territory," the prominent freshman MK explains. "These supposedly peaceful activists, who were in fact carrying a cache of illegal weapons, attacked Israeli soldiers without provocation. Furthermore, Turkey has been using the flotilla as an opportunity to establish itself as a superpower within the Muslim world. The Turkish government also should apologize for turning the flotilla incident into a platform intended to present Israel as aggressive and barbaric." "Most of all, Mr. Erdogan should apologize for continuing to support the flotilla and maintain connections with Hamas and other Islamic extremist groups," Danon says, noting Turkey's growing closeness to Syria and Iran. Since Erdogan took office, Danon claims, his goal has been "to flex his country’s muscles and prove its ability to lead the Muslim world. Unfortunately, this has been done at Israel’s expense. As a result, he is positioning Turkey’s relationship with Israel on shaky ground." The United States and other allies, writes Danon, should lead the call for Turkey to apologize to Israel for its repeated insults and provocations.
