Turkish-Israeli annual joint air force drill postponed

Posted by Mc Parry on October 11th, 2009 No Comments Printer-Friendly

JERUSALEM — Turkey’s “Anatolian Eagle” joint aerial exercise has been postponed this year because of Ankara’s decision to exclude Israel, the Israeli army said in a statement on Sunday.”The exercise Anatolian Eagle which was planned to take place in Turkey from October 12 to 23 has been postponed until further notice,” it said in a statement.

“The exercise has been postponed as a result of Turkey’s decision to change the list of participating countries, thus excluding Israel. This decision came several days before the start of the exercise,” it said, without giving further details.

The exercise was to involve Turkish, Israeli and several other NATO air forces. The Israeli media said the decision to postpone the exercises came after the United States pulled out once Turkey had excluded Israel.

Israeli public radio said that this year’s manoeuvres were to include practicing aerial attacks in Turkish airspace near borders with Syria, Iraq and Iran.

Local media speculated that the decision would bring to a new low relations between Israel and Turkey, which took a sharp downturn during the Jewish state’s war in Gaza at the turn of the year which Ankara heavily criticised.

But Deputy Foreign Minister Danny Ayalon sought to play down the reports.

“Turkey was and remains a very important strategic anchor in the Middle East and its relations with Israel serve the interests of the entire region,” he told public radio. Turkey was “a tolerant state that is part of the Western world and that serves as a counter-model to the Iranian regime,” Israel’s arch-foe, he said.

In early September, Turkish Foreign Minister Ahmet Davutoglu cancelled a visit to Israel over what media reports said was a refusal to let him visit the Hamas-run Gaza Strip.

Turkey is Israel’s principal ally in the region and both countries have close economic ties following a military cooperation agreement in 1996 and the two countries regularly participate in joint military exercises. (AFP)