Erdogan blaming Israel for riots in Turkey

Hurriyet Daily News, June 3:

Turkish intelligence is looking into possible links between the incidents in Taksim Square and foreign powers, Turkish Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdoğan said at a press conference today before leaving for Morocco, accusing internal and foreign actors of supporting the Gezi Park protests.

“Our intelligence work is ongoing [to determine the foreign actors behind the protests]. It is not possible to reveal their names. But we will have meetings with their heads,” said Erdoğan.

June 12:

The head of Israel’s Mossad, Tamir Pardo, met secretly with the Turkish intelligence agency’s undersecretary, Hakan Fidan, on June 10 in Ankara, with Syria and Iran on the agenda.

Fidan and Pardo shared information about the latest situation in Syria as well as the influence of Iran in the country.....Fidan and Pardo also reprotedly [sic] discussed the ongoing protests in Turkey, which started two weeks ago to oppose a development project in Istanbul’s Taksim Gezi Park and spread to the other parts of the country.

Commenter Yoel noticed the juxtaposition, and the only other I found that made that connection was IBTimes.

But later Yoel sent me more proof, also from Hurriyet today:

Turkish Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdoğan has reiterated his belief that the Gezi Park protests have external connections, adding that the interest lobby and foreign news outlets were also involved. “Those against whom we said ‘one minute’ are now delighted,” Erdoğan was quoted as saying during a meeting with the chairman of the Confederation of Turkish Craftsmen and Tradesmen (TESK) Bendevi Palandöken on June 12.

Erdoğan notoriously reacted by uttering “one minute” to Israeli President Shimon Peres during the 2009 Davos Economic Forum.

“Even if not in such a manner, we had foreseen these events as a series of conspiracies three months ago. We had received some intelligence reports,” Erdoğan also said.

There are a lot of good reasons why Israel and Turkey should have a close relationship. Recep Tayyip Erdoğan is the only reason they shouldn't. .