Turkish FM pulls out of Munich forum to avoid Israelis

Mevlut Cavusoglu says decision to boycott security conference is unrelated to ties with Germany

Turkey’s Foreign Minister Mevlut Cavusoglu on Friday said he will not attend the Munich Security Conference, citing the presence of Israeli representatives at the event.

“I was going to participate in the conference but we decided not to after they included the Israeli representatives in the Middle East session,” he told the official Anatolia news agency in Berlin.

Cavusoglu emphasized that the decision should not be seen as a move against Germany. “Our relationship with Germany is not limited with the Munich conference,” he added.

Under Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan, relations have soured between Israel and Turkey, once a key ally of the Jewish state.

In 2009, Erdogan famously walked off the stage at the World Economic Forum Annual Meeting in Davos after an angry exchange with the then Israeli president, Shimon Peres.

Last month, Turkish Prime Minister Ahmet Davutoglu accused Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu of killing Palestinian children and radicalizing the Muslim world.

“(Netanyahu) himself killed, his army killed children in the playground. They killed our citizens and an American citizen in international waters. This is terrorism,” Davutoglu told Reuters, in reference to the deadly Israeli assault on a Turkish vessel trying to break the naval blockade on the Gaza Strip.

Israeli naval commandos opened fire, killing nine Turkish nationals, when they were attacked with clubs and poles on the deck of the Mavi Marmara in the 2010 incident.

“These provocations create frustration in the Muslim world and are becoming one of the reasons why these radical trends are emerging,” Davutoglu said.

“If we want to establish peace and order in the Middle East, eliminating all the extremist forces, we have to solve the Palestinian question,” he continued.

Similarly, Erdogan last month blasted Netanyahu for “daring” to attend the Paris anti-terror solidarity march in the wake of the Charlie Hebdo massacre, and accused him of leading “state terrorism” against the Palestinians.

“I also hardly understand how he (Netanyahu) dared to go there. For once, you give an account for the children, women you massacred,” Erdogan told a joint press conference in Ankara alongside Palestinian Authority President Mahmoud Abbas.

Erdogan is known for his angry outbursts at the Jewish state, declaring in July that Israel had “surpassed Hitler in barbarism.” Turkey under his rule has been a consistent supporter of Hamas, the terror group that rules Gaza.