Israel apologises to Turkish ambassador
13/01/2010
ANKARA, Turkey -- Israel apologised on Wednesday (January 13th) for what media reports described as a display of a "humiliating" attitude towards the Turkish ambassador to Jerusalem. The alleged disrespect occurred during a meeting called to protest how Israeli intelligence officers are depicted on a popular Turkish TV show. Turkish Ambassador Oguz Celikkol was seated on a sofa much lower than the chair of Israeli Deputy Foreign Minister Danni Ayalon, who urged reporters at the photo-op to notice the height discrepancy.
Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu's press office later issued a statement saying in part "the protest issued to the Turkish ambassador was fundamentally correct but it should have been conveyed in the conventional diplomatic mode." Ayalon himself issued a statement, saying "it is not my way to disrespect ambassadors' honour and in the future I will clarify my position in a diplomatically acceptable manner." Israeli Defence Minister Ehud Barak is scheduled to visit Ankara on Sunday. (AFP, Reuters - 13/01/10)
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