Turkey's bold, futile gesture

If politics is the art of the possible, Turkey seems determined to make it the art of the impossible.

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The arrest warrants issued by the Istanbul Chief Public Prosecutor's Office against Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and 36 other Israeli officials on charges of “genocide” and “crimes against humanity” are a striking example. Nobody seriously believes that these warrants will be executed or that they will force Israeli leaders into a courtroom. Turkey lacks both the power to enforce them and the moral authority to corner Israel on ethical grounds. There is, however, a kernel of truth in Israels claim that the move is a mere public relations exercise. Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan, facing growing domestic discontent and criticism over his own human rights record, is adept at using high-decibel international posturing to divert attention. His own judiciary has been widely accused of functioning as an instrume