TURKEY: Goodbye to Long Friendship with Israel?, Islam and the West, NewAgeIslam.com

Islam and the West

TURKEY: Goodbye to Long Friendship with Israel?

Analysis by Hilmi Toros

The ties between Turkey and Israel that had been simmering for a few weeks suddenly hit boiling point at the usually sedate World Economic Forum in Davos in Switzerland. Israeli President Shimon Peres and Turkish Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan got into a public showdown over Gaza; Erdogan stormed out of a panel discussion with UN Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon and Arab League Secretary-General Amr Moussa.

Peres defended Israeli strikes as a response to rocket attacks by Hamas. Erdogan denounced Israeli raids and the death and destruction among civilians, many women and children among them, and on UN compounds.

The fine print of the confrontation was that Erdogan, despite the reports in most media, did not storm out of the meeting because of Peres. He had said his bit to Peres in no uncertain terms ("Israel knows how to kill well") and was elaborating when moderator David Ignatius of The Washington Post said the panel discussion was running over the allocated time, and persistently attempted to cut off Erdogan.

http://newageislam.com/turkey--goodbye-to-long-friendship-with-israel?---/islam-and-the-west/d/1176

Pakistan: The post-election rays of hope are now dimmed and gone, Current affairs, NewAgeIslam.com

Current affairs

Pakistan: The post-election rays of hope are now dimmed and gone

The unalterable law of lifeBy Dr Rubina Saigol

An autocratic ruler gets replaced by a megalomaniac and the latter by another dictator. The more things change, the more they eerily remain the same!Pakistanis were allowed a brief glimpse of sunshine before their jubilation and rejoicing were rudely interrupted by the gathering clouds of yet more uncertainty, political wrangling, power plays and coalition infighting. Once again iron-clad promises were broken as hopes and dreams shattered on the proverbial shores of 'reality', 'pragmatism', 'reconciliation' and realpolitik! The judges were not to be restored as the curtain fell on the obstinate dictator who was to be given 'safe passage', an 'honourable exit' and indemnity. The brief revelling came to an abrupt end as public aspirations were drowned in the cacophony of new sounds about the next president. The looming danger of another catastrophic decision by the motley crew, now drunk with power, became real with frantic moves to install a controversial figure in the presidency. There seems to be little respite for Pakistanis reeling under the blows of high inflation, terrorism and the hard to arrest economic downslide.The quick restoration of the deposed judiciary after Musharraf's much-celebrated exit would have injected some hope into a depressed polity. It would have continued the momentum gained by forcing Musharraf to call it a day.

http://newageislam.com/pakistan--the-post-election-rays-of-hope-are-now-dimmed-and-gone/current-affairs/d/648