Turkey: Western nations must decry Netanyahu’s West Bank annexation talk

Turkish President Tayyip Erdogan's spokesman echoed those charges on Sunday. "Will Western democracies react or will they keep appeasing? Shame on them all!" Ibrahim Kalin tweeted.

By TOVAH LAZAROFF
Turkish Minister of Foreign Affairs Mevlut Cavusoglu attends a news conference in Goslar, Germany. (photo credit: REUTERS)
Turkish Minister of Foreign Affairs Mevlut Cavusoglu attends a news conference in Goslar, Germany.
(photo credit: REUTERS)
Western democracies must take a stand against Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s talk of annexing the West Bank, Ibrahim Kalin, the spokesman for Turkish President Turkish President Tayyip Erdogan, said on Sunday.
“Will western democracies react or will they keep appeasing? Shame on them all!,” Kalin said.
Netanyahu made his statement in a Channel 12 interview, just three day before the April 9th election. It’s the first time he has spoken of annexing West Bank settlements.
Kalin said, this is “Yet another example of how Netanyahu uses electoral politics to justify occupation and undermine the two-state solution. If he is re-elected, will this be a triumph of ‘democracy’ or occupation?,” Kalin charged.
Turkish Foreign Minister Mevlut Cavusoglu tweeted that annexation of the West Bank was illegal.

“West Bank is Palestinian territory occupied by Israel in violation of [international] law. Prime Minister Netanyahu’s irresponsible statement to seek votes just before the Israeli general elections cannot and will not change this fact,” he added.
Palestinian officials also reacted strongly to the statement.
“Such a statement by Netanyahu is not surprising. Israel will continue to brazenly violate international law for as long as the international community will continue to reward Israel with impunity,” Palestinian chief negotiator Saeb Erekat said.

“We’ll continue to pursue our rights through international forums, including the international criminal court, until we achieve our long overdue justice," he added.
The Palestinian Authority has already asked the International Criminal Court to open a war crimes suite against Israeli settlement activity.
Israel has long argued that such activity is not illegal. Netanyahu has always spoken of the importance of Judea and Samaria to Israel and of his refusal to uproot any of the settlements there.
Israel captured the West Bank from Jordan during a the defensive Six-Day War in 1967, but has never annexed that territory to Israel. The 1993 Oslo Accords divided the West Bank, placing Areas A and B under the autonomy of the Palestinian Authority and Area C under the military and civil control of the IDF.
All West Bank settlements are located in Area C.
On Saturday night Netanyahu said, he would apply sovereignty to West Bank settlements including the isolated ones.


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