A postcard from Ankara: Turkey is not looking to reconcile with Israel

...the comments sections of this newspaper have accomplished a truly Olympian feat: they make the responses at the Huffington Post appear to be intellectual and reasoned. To be fair, the notes for most articles (this one included) aren't any worse than those at the Guardian's Comment is Free. To be unfairly accurate, that's not a good thing.

You already have new friends in the area cyprus greece bulgaria romania etc. So why can't you people leave us alone and move on. We the people of turkey have already forgotten and moved on. I suggests you do the same. One thing we will never forget is the Mavi Marmara. Go play with your new friends in the area. Good Luck to JEWISH state of Israel..

the guardians of secularism and democracy, the army. Turkey is a big problem for the world now. They act like Ottomans. When they cant' begin to accept responsibility for the slaughter of innocent Armenians a terrible genocide they are bound to repeat it. Obama loves this horrible turkish leader, Both Obama and Edogen must go

(1) Turkey has NATO's second largest armed forces and the world's 10th largest. (2) The Islamic world has nuclear weapons as well (3) Any attack on the Turkish State would lead to World War III and annihilation of human life. I would rather you choose a path of peace and co-existence for any other road would lead to co-destruction.

Why doesn´t israel apologize for its crime and pay compensation to innocent victims once for all? Turkey used to be a great Muslim Ally to israel.

We already know about Turkey's stance, Israel and the Arab Spring, the question marks regarding the Kurds of Syria and the PKK conflict in Turkey etc.. The article adds nothing. However quasi-literary language won't save drivel such as Erdogan one day leading the "entire region" or the whole country of Turkey ceasing to exist because of potential Kurdish regional secession from ridicule. It amusingly travels from one extreme end to another while making no sense. But there's this cheap literary sounding language in use here so it must me "witty" or something.

"The statesman who would be sultan must make certain he does not lose his own state". One must stop here. Both the secular elitists and Islamist's in Turkey have one common point of interest: the eternal sovereignty of the Turkish Republic. I can assure you that the Turks will not cede or allow their sovereignty to be questioned without turning the Middle East into a hell hole. Turkey has the soft power and military power to do this. One must be careful when questioning the sovereignty of the Turkish Republic. The Turks are known to fiercely defend their State and there right to self-determination.