Turkish PM announces boycott of Athens Conference if Netanyahu attends

Turkey’s Prime Minister has announced that he will not attend the climate conference in Athens next Friday if his Israeli counterpart Benjamin Netanyahu takes part. In an interview with Greek television on Monday evening, Recep Tayyip Erdogan also stated that Israel was on the brink of losing a very important ally in the region, namely Turkey.

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Israeli-Turkish relations have deteriorated drastically since Operation Cast Lead in December 2008 and January 2009 and the subsequent Israeli attack on the Marvi Marmara as it attempted to sail to Gaza and break the Israeli siege. During the deadly assault, nine unarmed Turkish humanitarian activists were killed by Israeli commandos.