Excerpts:Israeli 'unequivocal demand to P.A. re continuing protests,
Turkey's Erdogan accuses Assad February 24, 2013

+++SOURCE: Naharnet (Lebanon) 24 Feb.’13:”Israel Demands Palestinian
Authority Reduce Tensions’, Agence France Presse
SUBJECT: Israeli ‘unequivocal demand’ to P.A. re continuing protests

FULL TEXT:Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu's envoy has made "an
unequivocal demand" to the Palestinian Authority to quell a wave of protests
in the West Bank, the government said on Sunday[24 Feb.].

Netanyahu has also ordered the transfer of January arrears of tax revenues
that Israel collects on the behalf of the Palestinians but has been
withholding, the government said in a statement.

"Israel passed an unequivocal demand to the Palestinian Authority to calm
down the territory," through his personal envoy Yitzhak Molcho, it said.

"In order that the non-payment of taxes that Israel collects for the
Palestinians should not serve as an excuse for the Palestinian Authority not
to calm the territory, Netanyahu instructed the money for January to be
transferred, (December's money was paid last month)," it added.

Protests in the West Bank have been mounting, both in support of Palestinian
prisoners held by Israel and against settlement expansion.

Israeli media have linked both the increased unrest and Israel's concerns
about possible escalation to next month's visit to the Jewish state and the
Palestinians by U.S. President Barack Obama.

"The political establishment is counting on the Palestinian Authority not to
allow things to boil over on the ground, at least not until after U.S.
President Barack Obama's visit to Israel is over," the Yediot Aharonot
newspaper said on Sunday[24 Feb.].

"Officials in Jerusalem will begin to look for all kinds of ways to appease
the Palestinians and to cool tempers on the ground."

SourceAgence France Presse

Middle East

+++SOURCE: Naharnet 24 Feb.’13:Erdogan Vows No Silence on Assad Regime
‘Crimes’, Agence France Presse
SUBJECT: Turkey’s Erdogan accuses Assad

QUOTE:”Erdogan said on Sunday (24 Feb.) that his country will ‘not remain
silent’ over …Assad’s ‘crimes’ against his own people”

FULL TEXT:Turkish Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan said on Sunday[24
Feb.] that his country will "not remain silent" over Syrian President Bashar
Assad's "crimes" against his own people.

"Every day a large number of innocent children and women fall dead in
Syria," Erdogan said in a speech at the Government Communication Forum in
the United Arab Emirates.

"We will not remain silent to those committing crimes against their people,"
he said.

"We will not remain silent to the brutal dictator in Syria," Erdogan added.
"Some people are annoyed with the loud voices with which we confront world
problems" but "we will not stay silent."

Turkey's southern neighbor has been locked in a 23-months-long conflict in
which the United Nations estimates over 70,000 people have been killed since
an uprising began against Assad's regime.

Early in the revolt, Turkey broke ties with Damascus and led international
calls for Assad's ouster.

It has since backed the uprising by offering shelter to defectors from
Assad's army and hosting opposition meetings. Some 200,000 Syrian refugees
have fled the conflict in their country for Turkey, many of them living in
insalubrious camps.

On February 15, Syrian state media reported that the Syrian government has
sent a letter to the United Nations blasting Turkey's "destructive" role in
the Syrian conflict.

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Sue Lerner - Associate, IMRA