Turkey withdraws request for apology
UPDATE: Recap and analysis of the latest events in this story here.
Translators note: The Danish text uses the weasel word "dementeret" which I have translated as withdrawn. It might also mean deny, but if that is what they mean, why didn’t they say it? We’ll have to wait for an English newssource to see which word is used; Did Turkey initially demand an apology and then withdraw it, did the reporter from Information get it wrong or was this a probe to see how the Danish government would respond? It’s also interesting to note that the Danish government wants nothing to do with Turkey as a mediator now. Maybe they didn’t like their kind of mediation?
Jyllands-Posten, February 24, 2006
No Turkish demand for apology
Turkey has not joined the countries demanding an apology for the Muhammed cartoons, PM Anders Fogh Rasmussen is quoted as saying. The Danish newspaper Information quoted a spokesman from the Turkish Foreign Ministry as saying there would be no progress unless an apology was given insted of insisting that they are a matter of Freedom of Speech.
"According to my information the Turkish government has withdrawn the request for an apology," says the PM.
Following this statement, Per Stig Møller insisted that Turkey would have no special position as a mediator in the conflict, as proposed by some.
"Turkey will, as an applicant country, be present at the informal meeting of Foreign Ministers on March 11 and 12. In connection with that I have proposed to the Turkish Foreign Minister that he raise the matter there," Per Stig Møller says as he notes the special relationship Turkey has with both the European and Arab world.
Ahhhh, methinks Islam blinked…or maybe it’s only Turkey’s sense of self-preservation. Whatever, Denmark. As that great British Bulldog and a helluva dame too Maggie Thatcher once said to George Bush: “This is no time to go wobbly!” We now must all stand firm together. Christopher Hitchens stood with a number of people outside the Danish Embassy in Washington, D.C. today. Bill Krystol, Tony Blakeley, Andrew Sullivan and a crowd of about 200. He concluded his remarks: “SOLIDARITY WITH DENMARK! DEATH TO FASCISM!”
Another sign that something might be cracking in Islam’s inflammatory armour is that there was a summit of the ‘religious’ in Iraq today, amongst whom were Ali-Al-Sistani, someone from the Sunnis (didn’t get the name and….(this I saw for myself)…a very angry but chastened Muqtada al-Sadr who for once did NOT want to talk to the media, kind of like a Baldwin Bros. caught at an awkward moment. Healing Iraq’s Zeyad was trapped in his home (nice upsale neighbourhood) in Baghdad tonight after men in black (al-Sadr’s favourite color) tried to take over their neighbourhood. The sons of the residents had to grab some rifles and run to the mosque to try to defend their area from these black clothed thugs. If al-Sadr blew up that Sunni mosque to start something and al-Sistani found out…ta da. This may turn the war around. Favourably.
The word on FOX News tonight from Iraq was that the Prime Minister and ALL THE IMAMS were calling for calm and and end to sectarian violence. We wait….
Comment by foreign devil — February 25, 2006 @ 3:27 am
An article from the Turkish newspaper Hurriyet says there was NEVER any demand for apology.
http://www.hurriyet.com.tr/dunya/3986463.asp?gid=51
The Danish newspaper “Information” had written that it was a spokesman from the Turkish Foreign Ministry, Namik Tan, that had demanded an apology. In the Turkish article, this same spokesman says he never said that to the Danish newspaper.
Tan also says that everyone should already know Turkey wouldn’t demand an apology. The article also quotes Rasmussen as saying there is no Turkish demand.
Since neither the Turkish Prime Minister or the Foreign Minister himself have been quoted as demanding any sort of apology, this spokesman, Namik Tan, was probably either misquoted or misunderstood.
Comment by L — February 25, 2006 @ 5:39 am
Turkey Denies Demanding Danish Apologies. Finns Fire Editor
According to the Turkish newspaper Hurriyet the Turkish government has not demanded an apology from the Danish government for the twelve Muhammad drawings which were published in a Danish paper last September.
Trackback by The Brussels Journal — February 25, 2006 @ 9:08 am
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Comment by test — March 22, 2007 @ 2:26 pm