TV show sparks new row between Turkey and Israel
The Israeli Foreign Minister has summoned the Turkish Envoy over a series of broadcasts on Turkey's public TV showing Israeli soldiers brutally killing Palestinian children.
Foreign Minister Avigdor Lieberman "instructed to summon the Turkish ambassador to Israel for talks with officials in the Foreign Ministry in order to protest the broadcasting of a series on the state television inciting hatred against Israel," the Foreign Ministry said in a statement on Wednesday as reported by AFP.
The show, called Ayrilik (Farewell), features a love story that develops between the lead characters during Israel's offensive in the Gaza Strip.
A partial episode — available on YouTube — shows Israeli soldiers shooting children in the chest and kicking elderly people on the ground, among other things.
Israel launched a 22-day all-out war on the densely populated Gaza Strip last December.
Based on a report recently released by B'Tselem human rights group, the offensive killed at least 773 Palestinians who had not taken part in any military activities.
252 children under 16, and 111 women were among the victims of the offensive.
According to the report, 68 Palestinian teenagers aged 16 to 18 who did not take part in the fighting were also killed by the Israeli army.
The results of a UN probe into the Gaza war have also confirmed that the Israeli Army committed war crimes in its "Operation Cast Lead".
The latest row might further undermine relations between the two sides which have already been strained after Turkey withdrew from a joint military exercise over Israel's decision to send warplanes that participated in the Gaza war.
http://www.therebel.org/politics/middle_east/tv_show_sparks_new_row_between_turkey_and_israel_2009101472629/