ANKARA (AFP) – Turkish Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan, whose country is one of Israel’s few Muslim allies, yesterday condemned the Jewish state’s operations in Gaza as excessive and inhumane. “It is not possible for us to approve of the recent inhumane practice in Gaza. Children, civilians are being killed with disproportionate use of force,” Erdogan told a gathering of his Justice and Development Party’s (AKP) youth branches here. “There is no humane or legal justification for the attacks in Gaza. We, the Turkish Republic, openly condemn Israel’s attitude,” he said in a televised speech. Seventy Palestinians have been killed by the Israeli military since early Saturday in a ground and air operation aimed at halting rocket attacks from Gaza.

ANKARA (AFP) – More than 100 intellectuals called on the Turkish government in a joint text published yesterday to accelerate reforms to help Ankara’s bid to join the European Union. The declaration in the March issue of the monthly Kriter magazine coincided with widespread criticism of Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan’s government for having lost steam in its reform drive that enabled Turkey to begin accession talks with the bloc three years ago. ”There is no reason left not to fully embrace the EU project that has been ignored for the past three years,” read the declaration, signed by academics, artists and journalists.

Novak Djokovic, the newest star on the tennis circuit, talked about the pain he feels at the separation of Kosovo from Serbia, and how he can never accept it. The 20-year-old has been the biggest sports star in Serbia ever since he won the Australian Open in Melbourne in January, beating the legendary Roger Federer along the way. But his heart has been aching with the break-up of his country, especially as his family has cross-border loyalties, his father Srdjan being Serbian, and his mother Dijana Montenegrin. “Unfortunately it is something that we predicted,” he said of Kosovo’s declaration of independence last month. “Kosovo is part of Serbia... How can you take something which has so much history and culture and so much religion? It’s very touchy to talk about it... But as a professional player I will try to continue playing and win on tennis courts.” (AFP)

Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad yesterday called upon Turkey and Iraq to jointly cooperate with his government in the fight against Kurdish rebels. When asked for his reaction in a news conference over the recent incursion by Ankara in northern Iraq to flush out Kurdish rebels, he said: “Terrorism is presently damaging everybody. Everybody should fight terrorism.” “We have to have coordination between the governments of Turkey, Iran and Iraq,” he said. (AFP)