Israeli Foreign Ministry official admits that Turkish citizens routinely humiliated

jonsnow

Foreign Ministry officials told Haaretz on Monday that over the past year, there were dozens of complaints on the part of Turkish citizens who claimed they were humiliated by Israeli security personnel at Ben-Gurion airport.

The officials also said that almost every Turkish citizen who arrives at Ben-Gurion airport undergoes a routine procedure of extensive, humiliating examinations that also include undressing to one's underwear.

"Turkish citizens are always separated from the rest of the passengers at the airport," said a Foreign Ministry official.

"When their luggage is thoroughly examined and they undergo extensive questioning they understand it comes from security needs, but when they get to the strip search part it breaks them and they are humiliated. Many Turkish businesspeople and tourists have complained about this in the past. This humiliation ceremony of Turkish citizens is a routine matter."

Earlier Monday, dozens of Israelis were questioned at length at Istanbul's airport and forced to undergo a strip search. Officials in Ankara said in response that Israel was first to humiliate passengers, saying that Turkish tourists were harassed in Israel's Ben-Gurion International Airport on Sunday evening, hours before the incident at Istanbul's airport the next morning.

The issue of security checks at Ben-Gurion has turned into a regular source of tension which causes embarrassing diplomatic incidents every several weeks. Foreign citizens routinely complain regarding their examinations, and some, who are official guests of the Foreign Ministry or other government offices also say they are humiliated often. Most of the incidents take place upon departure from Israel as opposed to landing.

"The Ben-Gurion issue is known and as much as we try to fix it, it does not help," said a Foreign Ministry official. "One time the Turks decide to treat us the same way and everyone gets all worked up."

The recent flare-up took place against the backdrop of a deepening diplomatic crisis between Israel and Turkey, after the UN-commissioned report on the 2010 Gaza flotilla raid was leaked to the New York Times, foiling a last-ditch effort to patch up relations between the two countries. Turkey then announced a series of measures against Israel, beginning with the expulsion of the Israeli ambassador and the downgrading of bilateral relations to the level of second secretary.

Interesting to see an Israeli official admit that it is a common Israeli practice but that the "One time the Turks decide to treat us the same way everyone gets all worked up."

Alopex

The friendliness between Turkey and Israel was like a last shred of hope for the middle east.

Such a shame Turkey seems to be going from secular to Islamist.

Hopefully Israel will do the decent thing and offer some apologies for the flotilla massacre. They're really leaving the Turkish govt with no option but to cut ties

HellsAngel

jonsnow wrote: »

Foreign Ministry officials told Haaretz on Monday that over the past year, there were dozens of complaints on the part of Turkish citizens who claimed they were humiliated by Israeli security personnel at Ben-Gurion airport.

The officials also said that almost every Turkish citizen who arrives at Ben-Gurion airport undergoes a routine procedure of extensive, humiliating examinations that also include undressing to one's underwear.

"Turkish citizens are always separated from the rest of the passengers at the airport," said a Foreign Ministry official.

"When their luggage is thoroughly examined and they undergo extensive questioning they understand it comes from security needs, but when they get to the strip search part it breaks them and they are humiliated. Many Turkish businesspeople and tourists have complained about this in the past. This humiliation ceremony of Turkish citizens is a routine matter."

Earlier Monday, dozens of Israelis were questioned at length at Istanbul's airport and forced to undergo a strip search. Officials in Ankara said in response that Israel was first to humiliate passengers, saying that Turkish tourists were harassed in Israel's Ben-Gurion International Airport on Sunday evening, hours before the incident at Istanbul's airport the next morning.

The issue of security checks at Ben-Gurion has turned into a regular source of tension which causes embarrassing diplomatic incidents every several weeks. Foreign citizens routinely complain regarding their examinations, and some, who are official guests of the Foreign Ministry or other government offices also say they are humiliated often. Most of the incidents take place upon departure from Israel as opposed to landing.

"The Ben-Gurion issue is known and as much as we try to fix it, it does not help," said a Foreign Ministry official. "One time the Turks decide to treat us the same way and everyone gets all worked up."

The recent flare-up took place against the backdrop of a deepening diplomatic crisis between Israel and Turkey, after the UN-commissioned report on the 2010 Gaza flotilla raid was leaked to the New York Times, foiling a last-ditch effort to patch up relations between the two countries. Turkey then announced a series of measures against Israel, beginning with the expulsion of the Israeli ambassador and the downgrading of bilateral relations to the level of second secretary.

Interesting to see an Israeli official admit that it is a common Israeli practice but that the "One time the Turks decide to treat us the same way everyone gets all worked up."

Their worse than Apartheid South Africa ever was.

anymore

HellsAngel wrote: »

Their worse than Apartheid South Africa ever was.

Really ? Do you mean there are separate cafes, buses etc for Turks entering Israel ?

Killer Pigeon

Alopex wrote: »

The friendliness between Turkey and Israel was like a last shred of hope for the middle east.

Such a shame Turkey seems to be going from secular to Islamist.

Hopefully Israel will do the decent thing and offer some apologies for the flotilla massacre. They're really leaving the Turkish govt with no option but to cut ties

Why should Turkey be regarded as "Islamist" just because they do not agree with the situation in Israel and are standing up for the families of those Turkish citizens who were killed by the IDF in international waters. There are many secular states in the world that are critical of Israel.

Alopex

Killer Pigeon wrote: »

Why should Turkey be regarded as "Islamist" just because they do not agree with the situation in Israel and are standing up for the families of those Turkish citizens who were killed by the IDF in international waters. There are many secular states in the world that are critical of Israel.

Sorry, its nothing to do with their stance on Israel, I wasn't clear enough.

The Islamist movement is growing in Turkey. Whilst this is not due to Israel, I fear it will inevitably lead to worse relations with Israel.

vellocet

anymore wrote: »

Really ? Do you mean there are separate cafes, buses etc for Turks entering Israel ?

No, but there are roads and public transport systems the indiginious arab population are banned by law from using, manditory ID which is colour coded depending on your ethnic grouping and different legal and civic rights depending on your flavour of religion.

anymore

I see. I felt a bit like that on the only time I flew into Gatwick airport. Suddenly at one along the entrance corridor, passengers from the republic of Ireland were required to segregate themselves from the main body and line up against this temporary barriers. That all the other passengers could see us being segregated like a bunch of cattle that failed a foot and mouth disease made the apartheid like segregation all the more distressing.

anymore

vellocet wrote: »

No, but there are roads and public transport systems the indiginious arab population are banned by law from using, manditory ID which is colour coded depending on your ethnic grouping and different legal and civic rights depending on your flavour of religion.

Do they at least allow the indigenous arab population to drive cars and maybe even go about in public without covering thier faces ?

Monty Burnz

anymore wrote: »

Do they at least allow the indigenous arab population to drive cars and maybe even go about in public without covering thier faces ?

The indigenous population is probably a well chosen word. It must be galling to have millions of Europeans turn up and colonise your country, turning you into a second class citizen in your own home. Assuming you have a home of course, rather than a refugee camp. And then they deny the refugees the right to return claiming that they have been away for decades so it isn't their home anymore. This from the same people who claim their right to return after thousands of years ...very odd.

woodoo

Israel will soon be hemmed in by hostile nations and I have no sympathy for them.

A supposedly western nation that puts the interests of one religion over any others. They are not westerners imo.

anymore

Monty Burnz wrote: »

The indigenous population is probably a well chosen word. It must be galling to have millions of Europeans turn up and colonise your country, turning you into a second class citizen in your own home. Assuming you have a home of course, rather than a refugee camp. And then they deny the refugees the right to return claiming that they have been away for decades so it isn't their home anymore. This from the same people who claim their right to return after thousands of years ...very odd.

Quite right, why they are treating the palestinians as if they were a bunch of Sudeten Germans or any of the millions of europeans of aone kind or another who where forcibly evacuated from thier ancestral homelands in the 2o th century ! Just at look the Greeks forced to flee Turkish occupied parts of Cyprus !

Nodin

anymore wrote: »

Quite right, why they are treating the palestinians as if they were a bunch of Sudeten Germans or any of the millions of europeans of aone kind or another who where forcibly evacuated from thier ancestral homelands in the 2o th century ! Just at look the Greeks forced to flee Turkish occupied parts of Cyprus !

And the point of raising that is.....?

brimal

Have any of you guys actually been to Ben Gurion?

These procedures happen to everyone, not just Turks or Arabs. The strip-search is a last resort and happens very very rarely.

I have been on many flights in/out of Israel and never once saw any ethnic group being separated from the rest. The only time I saw somebody being brought away for a strip-search, the person was a white English male.

For an airport that has 10-15 million passengers a year, 'dozens of complaints' doesn't sound like much does it? This article is very hastily written, and I wouldn't be surprised if this 'Foreign Ministry official' was misquoted or talking absolute nonsense.

For an airport that has genuine security concerns, I for one appreciate the lengths they go through to ensure this airport stays the safest in the world.

Einhard

Alopex wrote: »

The friendliness between Turkey and Israel was like a last shred of hope for the middle east.

Such a shame Turkey seems to be going from secular to Islamist.

Hopefully Israel will do the decent thing and offer some apologies for the flotilla massacre. They're really leaving the Turkish govt with no option but to cut ties

I think a party can be Islamist, and still uphold a secular constitution, just as European Christian parties manage(d) to respect secular traditions. Perhaps the JDP will seek to foster a more theocratic climate in Turkey, but they haven't shown any signs of doing so, and in the absence of such evidence, I can't see how they can be said to be a threat to Turkey's secular tradition. Indeed, considering the marked absence of coups in the recent past, they seem to represent an improvement on Turkey's democratic tradition! Just because there's a variant of the word Islam in a title, doesn't necessarily mean it's dangerous, and always negative.