Turkey Puts Israel on Trial

For anyone who, despite the last decade of Turkish foreign policy, believes that the Turkish government is more interested in peace than in inciting hatred toward Israel, Turkey’s decision to host a puppet trial of Israeli leaders should put such notions to a rest. From Hürriyet:

The Mavi Marmara trial, known as the largest international trial thanks to citizens from 37 countries participating, will begin tomorrow in Istanbul’s Çağlayan court [Istanbul's Seventh High Criminal Court]. Prosecutors are demanding life sentences for Israel’s former Chief of Staff Gen. Gabi Ashkenazi, former Naval Forces Commander Eliezer Alfred Marom, former Military Intelligence chief Maj. Gen. Amos Yadlinir (sic) and former Air Forces Intelligence head Brig. Gen. Avishai Levi, Humanitarian Aid Foundation (İHH) Board member Gülden Sönmez said.

Never mind that the United Nations investigated the incident and largely exculpated Israel. And never mind that the IHH channels money to al-Qaeda. The trial is important, however, because it demonstrates once again how Turkey’s Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdoğan views the judiciary less as a means for independent justice and more as a mechanism for political show trials. It also shows how misguided those in Israel or America have been who believe that apologizing to ideologues like Erdoğan can ever ameliorate conflict.