Turkish PM Erdogan walks off stage in clash over Gaza

SHOTLIST WEF POOL 1. Wide of stage, including Israeli President, Shimon Peres and Turkish Prime Minister, Recep Tayyip Erdogan 2. Stage, with Peres talking 3. Mid of audience listening 4. Mid of Peres and Erdogan on stage 5. Close of Peres speaking, turning to Erdogan, UPSOUND (English) Peres: "I want to understand why did they fire rockets against us. What for? There was not any siege against Gaza." 6. Various of Erdogan asking for time to respond, UPSOUND (English) Erdogan: "one minute, one minute..." 7. SOUNDBITE (Turkish) Recep Tayyip Erdogan, Turkish Prime Minister: (taken from simultaneous translation) "I feel that you perhaps feel a bit guilty and that is why perhaps you have been so strong in your words, so loud. Well you killed people. I remember the children who died on the beaches." 8. Various of Erdogan trying to speak and, chairperson trying to end proceedings 9. Erdogan walking off stage AP TELEVISION 10. People gathered in hallway 11. Close up of sign reading: (English) "middle east peace" 12. SOUNDBITE (English) Amr Moussa, Arab League Secretary-General: "Yes he walked out because he was not given the full time to answer, and we also wanted him to answer because what Mr. Peres said was first unacceptable, second, many of the points were not really accurate and we wanted to say something. So the Prime Minister of Turkey was not given that opportunity. He is after all the Prime Minister of Turkey and he wants to speak." (Question: And he was in his right to walk out and make a point?) "This is a different story. He is angry and I believe we are going to see him now." 13. Cutaway delegates ++MUTE++ STORYLINE Turkey's prime minister stalked off the stage at the World Economic Forum on Thursday after reproaching Israel's president over the devastating military offensive in Gaza. The packed audience, which included President Barack Obama's close adviser Valerie Jarrett, appeared stunned as Turkish Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan and Israeli President Shimon Peres raised their voices and traded accusations. Peres was passionate in his defence of Israel's 23-day offensive in Gaza, which it said targeted Gaza-rulers Hamas and aimed to stop Palestinian militant rocket fire into southern Israeli towns. As he spoke, Peres often turned toward Erdogan, who in his remarks had criticised Israel's strict blockade of the Gaza Strip. "Why did they fire rockets? There was no siege against Gaza," Peres said, raising his voice. The heated debate with Israel and Turkey at the centre was significant because of the key role Turkey has played as a moderator between Israel and Syria. Erdogan appeared to express a sense of disappointment when he recounted how he had met with the Israeli Prime Minister Ehud Olmert just days before the offensive, and believed they were close to reaching terms for a face-to-face meeting with Syrian leaders. Obama's new Mideast envoy, George Mitchell, will be in Turkey for talks on Sunday. Erdogan was angry when a panel moderator cut off his remarks in response to an impassioned monologue by Peres defending Israel's offensive. The angry exchange followed an hour-long debate at the forum attended by world leaders in Davos. Erdogan tried to rebut Peres as the discussion was ending, asking the moderator, Washington Post columnist David Ignatius, to let him speak once more. "You killed people," Erdogan told the 85-year-old Israeli leader. "I remember the children who died on beaches." When moderator repeatedly interrupted, asking him to stop, Erdogan angrily stalked off, leaving behind fellow panelists United Nations Secretary-General Ban-Ki Moon and Arab League Secretary-General, Amr Moussa. Erdogan also complained that Peres had 25 minutes while he was only given 12 minutes. You can license this story through AP Archive: http://www.aparchive.com/metadata/youtube/61e8fccf791b1e2f8766ea162b585a06 Find out more about AP Archive: http://www.aparchive.com/HowWeWork