Erdogan to Skip Greek Climate Summit if Israeli Counterpart There

Turkey’s prime minister said Monday he will not attend a climate change summit in Greece on Friday if his Israeli counterpart is there, reports the Hürriyet Daily News & Economic Review.

Turkish Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdoğan was scheduled to represent Turkey at the Mediterranean Climate Change Initiative on Friday, as both he and Greek Prime Minister George Papandreou were listed among the keynote speakers of the event.

But according to Reuters, Erdoğan told Skai TV he did not want to talk to Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, and that if he “takes part in this event, I will not be there.”

Relations between Turkey and Israel, once close allies, plummeted after Israeli commandos raided a Gaza-bound aid ship on May 31, killing eight Turks and one American of Turkish descent.