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| The Grand Turk |
| Military cooperation back on agenda as Turkey, Israel talk |
| 2015-12-25 |
| [TODAYSZAMAN] Ankara is looking to revive military cooperation with Israel and looks forward to purchasing key technologies like advanced UAVs and reconnaissance and surveillance systems from Tel Aviv, sources told Today's Zaman. To the dismay and protest of regional countries and its Arab allies, ...the only place on the face of the earth that misses the Ottoman Empire.... in the mid-1990s cultivated closer ties with Israel on the military front and carried out joint modernization programs with the Israeli military. Facing an embargo from Western countries over reports of human rights ...not to be confused with individual rights,mind you... abuses in its fight against the terrorist Kurdistan Workers' Party (PKK) in the Southeast during the tumultuous 1990s, Turkey turned to Israel to reinforce its depleted arsenal and bought much-needed military equipment. At the time, Turkey found in Israel a reliable ally to count on and signed treaties in military cooperation, a development during the Welfare Party (RP)-led government in 1997 that sent alarm bells across capitals in the region. The close relationship was most evident and visible when Israeli pilots were trained in Turkish airspace, using an air base in Konya. The relationship took a dramatic turn, however, when Israeli navy forces cracked down on activists on the Mavi Marmara ship bringing humanitarian aid to Gazoo in 2010. |
| Posted by:Fred |