This morning’s key headlines from GenerationalDynamics.com

Turkey warns Israel against ‘dirty bargaining’ over flotilla compensation


People gather in front of the Mavi Marmara boat where pictures of the Israeli raid’s victims are shown. (Hurriyet)

Israel apologized last month for the deaths of nine Turkish citizenson May 31, 2010, in a confrontation between Israel’s navy and the boatMavi Marmara in a flotilla headed for Gaza in violation of Israel’sGaza blockade. However, still to be settled is the question of howmuch money Israel is going to have to pay to the families of the ninevictims. Rumors are that Israel will offer $100,000 for each victim.Talks will begin next week, and they’re not expected to be easy.According to a Turkish diplomatic source:

“Israel should perfectly know that this is not aprocess of bargaining. Compensation talks should not be turnedinto horse trading or dirty bargaining. We want to solve thisissue in next week’s talks.”

Turkey’s prime minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan is maintaining a hardline against Israel despite the apology. He announced on Sunday thathe will stick to his plan to visit Gaza in May, and he insisted thatTurkey will not send an ambassador to Israel unless Israel lifts theblockade of Gaza.

Israel apologized to Turkey last month because of the encouragement ofAmerican president Barack Obama during his visit last month, becausehe wanted Turkey and Israel to cooperate on issues involving Syria andIran. Hurriyet (Ankara) and Zaman (Istanbul)

Palestinian Prime Minister Salaam Fayyad resigns

The resignation of Palestinian Prime Minister Salaam Fayyad is beingdescribed by analysts as a major blow to the Obama administration’splans to revive the “peace process,” especially since Secretary ofState John Kerry met with Fayyad in Ramallah two weeks ago, and askedhim NOT to resign. I can’t imagine what those analysts are talkingabout, since the “peace process” has been dead as a door nail foryears, and is less likely to be revived than Hugo Chavez.

Salaam Fayyad was educated in the U.S. as an economist, and he’sworked for World Bank and the International Monetary Fund (IMF). He’scredited with developing the financial stability required for thecreation of the state of Palestine, but he’s also been heavilycriticized because of the weakening Palestinian economy in the WestBank.

His resignation is said to be the result of bitter disagreements withPalestinian president Mahmoud Abbas. Fayyad is also extremely dislikeby the leaders of Hamas, who accuse him of being dupes for Israel,despite his many denunciations of Israeli settlements in the WestBank. AFP and Bloomberg

Cyprus offers citizenship to wealthy Russian oligarchs

In an attempt to save its financial services industry (called anattract investors again. And it’s offering fast-track Cypruscitizenship to any foreigner who lost 3 million euros or more as aresult of the 60% confiscation of depositors’ accounts. And withCyprus citizenship automatically comes European Union citizenship.It’s hoped that the offer will be particularly appealing to Russianoligarchs who lost a lot of money in the bailout confiscation, andthat they’ll be tempted to try again. Cyprus has run a “citizenshipby investment” program for years, open to any foreigner who invests 10million euros in Cyprus, but now those requirements are going to bereduced considerably. Russia Today and Reuters

North Korea keeps the world guessing

Monday, April 15, is the birthday of North Korea’s founder KimIl-sung, and all eyes are on North Korea to see what it will do tocelebrate. South Korean intelligence says the North has had twomedium-range missiles primed and ready to fire for nearly a week, andmany observers believe that Monday will be the likely launch date.AP

Permanent web link to this article
Receive daily World View columns by e-mail