The Israeli Foreign Ministry responded Monday to criticism launched at Israel by Turkish Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan during a joint press conference with visiting Lebanon’s PM Saad Hariri , and said that “the Turks have absolutely no right to preach morality to the State of Israel and the IDF”.
Also on Monday, Turkey’s ambassador to Israel was summoned by Deputy Foreign Minister Danny Ayalon to receive an official reprimand for a Turkish television show depicting Mossad agents as baby snatchers.
Ayalon refused to shake Turkish Ambassador Ahmet Oguz Celikkol’s hand when asked to do so by journalists attending the official reprimand, and said in Hebrew that “we just want it to be seen that he is seated below us and that there is only one flag here”.
Celikkol, according to Turkish sources, did not even know beforehand the reason for the meeting. One official said that the whole episode was an “act of humiliation.”
In a statement the Israeli Foreign Ministry said “Israel maintains respect for Turkey and is interested in proper relations between the two states, however we expect reciprocity and a similar attitude from the Turkish side.”
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