Turkish Foreign Minister pulls out of Munich conference due to Israel

Turkish Foreign Minister Mevlut Cavusoglu has decided not to attend the 51st Munich Security Conference because of Israeli participation at a session on the Middle East.

Cavusoglu made the announcement at a press conference in Berlin Friday after participating in Turkey’s West Europe Consul-Generals’ meeting.

The foreign minister planned to attend the conference where around 20 heads of states, 60 foreign and defense ministers gathered.

“But we have decided not to participate in the Munich Security Conference because they have subsequently invited Israeli representatives to the Middle East session,” Cavusoglu said.

He also said that relations between Turkey and Germany were not restricted to the conference. “This is not an approach against Germany,” the foreign minister stressed.

Later Friday, Cavusoglu said at a televised interview at the Turkish Embassy in Berlin: “The seating arrangement was so that we would have to sit next to the Israeli Minister of Strategic Affairs (Yuval Steinitz). Everybody knows that Turkey-Israel relations have not been normalized yet. And he is such a radical minister as well.”

“Turkey’s sensitivity was known by all, and it should not have been disregarded,” he added.

Although the foreign minister will not attend the conference, Turkey will be represented by Foreign Ministry Under Secretary Feridun Sinirlioglu at the event, Turkish Foreign Ministry sources said.

NATO Secretary-General Jens Stoltenberg, U.S. Secretary of State John Kerry, Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov and Ukrainian Foreign Minister Pawlo Klimkin are among participants of the conference which will continue until Sunday.