THE DAILY TELEGRAPH: Turkey has urged Israel to sack Avigdor Lieberman, its controversial foreign minister, escalating a protracted row that has badly damaged one of the Middle East's most important pro-western alliances.
In an interview on al-Jazeera television, Recept Tayyip Erdogan, the Turkish prime minister, sought to present Mr Lieberman as an out-of-control maverick who had damaged Israel's international standing.
Reflecting deep anger in Ankara over a series of attacks that Mr Lieberman has directed at Turkey in recent weeks, the prime minister suggested that there was little hope of ending the diplomatic crisis with Israel while the foreign minister remained in office.
"Lieberman is Israel's chief problem and the Israelis should get rid of them," the prime minister said. "This is their problem not ours. If Israel doesn't fire him, their problems will get worse." >>> Adrian Blomfield, Middle East Correspondent | Thursday, January 13, 2011
