520 |
|
|
|b Israel launched an aggression on the Freedom Flotilla, on board of which were a number of human rights activists, as well as politicians, parliamentarians and intellectuals from over 40 countries of the world. It was loaded with humanitarian aid in an attempt to break the siege imposed on the Gaza Strip. Thus, a focus group was held by the Middle East Studies Center in its headquarters in Amman on Saturday, 5 June 2010, joined by distinguished academics, researchers, journalists and politicians. A seminar was also organized on Monday, 21 June 2010, in the Professional Associations Complex, joined by Jordanian and Turkish academics, experts and politicians. \ On the one hand, the focus group aimed to discuss the scenarios of the crisis in the Turkish-Israeli relations in all political, economic and military fields, as well as the consequences of the current tension. It also addressed the statutory dimensions of the Israeli aggression and how the Turks made use of it. In addition, it investigated the effect of the Israeli savage action on the international community; any resulting political blocks and powers enhancing the resistance popularity and rejecting the US-Israeli projects; and the Arab attitude of employing the incident in the Arab-Israeli conflict. The focus group concluded that the Turkish involvement in the conflict adds an Islamic dimension reinforcing the Arab and regional roles in the face of the Israeli arrogance. Furthermore, the Arabs have to make use of that incident to incite the global public opinion against such Israeli practices. \ On the other hand, the seminar aimed to explore the political, security and economic failures of the siege on Gaza and the resulting Israeli dilemma, as well as the Arab, Islamic public and official actions to break the siege, especially by the Turkish side. The Israeli impasse with Turkey after the aggression on the Freedom Flotilla from political, legal and moral perspectives was also discussed. Finally, the seminar addressed the consequences on Israel, its regional and international status and the Turkish- Israeli relations. The seminar emphasized the following: \ - the failure of the siege to achieve its basic political, security and economic targets \ - the failure of the Arab, Islamic and international governments to bear their responsibilities in lifting the siege, in contrast with the public Western stand which was more direct and efficient in breaking the siege. \ Finally, the participants stressed that Turkey has evidently become a major player in the Middle East region since the AKP party took power in 2002.
|