Recep Erdogan storms out of Davos after clash with Israeli president over Gaza.

The Turkish Prime Minister, Recep Erdogan, has marched out Davos after a heated exchange with Shimon Peres over Israel's attacks on Gaza. The leaders from the two normally friendly country's erupted into a very public argument in which Erdogan accused Peres of shrillness and of having a "guilty conscience".

In a heated exchange, Erdogan told Shimon Peres the Israeli air strikes and invasion of the Palestinian territory were "very wrong" and said "many people have been killed".

The incident came after a lengthy debate at the Davos forum about the Israeli offensive, in which at least 1,300 Palestinians were killed.

When David Ignatius attempted to stop him from making his point Erdogan complained that he had allowed Peres to speak, uninterrupted, for 25 minutes.

It ended with this exchange:

When the Turkish prime minister said: "Please let me finish," Igatius replied: "We really do need to get people to dinner."

Erdogan replied: "Thank you very much. Thank you very much. Thank you very much. I don't think I will come back to Davos after this."

Erdogan arrived home in Turkey to a hero's welcome.

Thousands of people gathered at Ataturk airport, in Istanbul, to greet the Turkish prime minister, waving Turkish and Palestinian flags and chanting: "Turkey is proud of you."

Peres appears to be genuinely stunned that the world has reacted with such revulsion towards his country's attack on an unarmed people and the utterly irresponsible amount of civilian deaths the IDF inflicted on the children of Gaza.

He's used to being given the kind of kid gloves routine that Ignatius and Bush normally hand him, he certainly wasn't prepared to be ambushed in this way by a Prime Minister who he regards as an ally.

One really does sense a sea change after the latest Gaza operation, a real feeling that Israel has crossed the line and that people are no longer willing to accept her constant cry that every military action she takes is an act of self defence.

UPDATE:


Blair says that, "Given what has happened in Gaza it would be surprising if people didn't feel really strongly about it." And, as so often with Blair, it's impossible to pin him down and work out what he is actually saying.

But I know this, were he still Prime Minister he would have backed Bush and refused to call for a ceasefire, just as he refused to call for a ceasefire in Lebanon.

UPDATE II:

You can watch the entire Gaza: The Case for Middle East Peace Conference here.

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Tags: Recep Erdogan, Shimon Peres, Israel, Gaza, Davos, walk out, Turkey