Is Turkish Prime Minister Erdogan an Out-Of-Control Bully?

By Published On: September 26, 2011

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Last year, a Turkish boat engaged in an act of war by trying to break Israel’s legal blockade on Gaza. Its occupants violently attacked Israeli soldiers who attempted to stop it. The soldiers tried to defend themselves from being lynched and in the ensuing battle, nine attackers were killed. Turkish Prime Minister Erdogan demanded an apology from Israel. But after Israel’s refusal to apologize for what it saw as a result of Turkey’s own wrongdoing, and a UN report that found Israel’s maritime blockade of Gaza legal, a furious Erdogan threatened Israel with warships, leaving even the New York Times to wonder whether he was dangerously out of control.

Now Erdogan is throwing his weight around again… this time at the UN and this time literally. The New York Times reports about a scuffle that ensued when Erdogan tried to push his way into an overcrowded gallery to cheer the Palestinian leader’s speech on Friday. After a guard tried to stop him, Erdogan disregarded him and pressed forward. The guard pushed him and “a fracas erupted that was audible four flours below.” And while it was the guard who in the process of doing his job ended up in hospital with a rib injury, it is the Turkish prime minister who has demanded an apology. UN Secretary-General Ban Ki Moon, however, unlike Israel, has acceded to Erdogan’s requests and appeased him with an apology and the firing of several UN guards.

But is appeasement really the best way forward with a bully who has clearly lost control?

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