"As long as Israel disowns the general's criticism of Turkey, the Turkish military is not expected to take unilateral action, such as the suspension of military ties, independent from the political authorities' stance. Israel is unique in the sense that it has been easily providing necessary military technology to Turkey," said the same retired general, who served on the Turkish delegation which prepared the documents that led to agreements between Turkey and Israel in 1996, formally establishing military and defense industry relations between the two nations.
Under the military agreements, Turkey and Israel, sometimes with the participation of Jordan, hold biannual high-level military-to-military meetings. Those meetings, depending on the schedule of both countries as well as the bilateral and regional political climate, may sometimes take place just once a year.
In reaction to the latest standoff which has, this time, brought the militaries of both countries to the center of a fierce, ongoing war of words, the Turkish Armed Forces (TSK) may cancel those meetings or may not allow Israel to take part in this year's Anatolian Eagle exercises, which are held at a training range in the central Anatolian city of Konya once or twice a year, usually once in June.
"We may expect such sanctions to be put into force by the Turkish military against Israel, but I do not expect a suspension of all military ties with Israel," predicted the retired Turkish general. The same source, speaking to Today's Zaman, recalled an earlier TSK statement that stressed the importance of relations with Israel to Turkey's national interests in the wake of Turkish Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan's dramatic walkout from a meeting in Davos, Switzerland, in late January during a debate with Israeli President Shimon Peres over Israel's Gaza assault, a three-week offensive in which over a thousand people were killed.
At the center of the current crisis between the US's close allies in the Middle East, Turkey and Israel, are remarks made by Israeli Ground Forces Commander Maj. Gen. Avi Mizrahi, who was paraphrased in a Haaretz feature on Friday as saying during a lecture at the Tactical Command College last Tuesday that Turkish Prime Minister Erdogan, who has been vicious in his criticism of Israel since Operation Cast Lead began, should first look in the mirror.
He spoke about the Kurdish conflict in Turkey and Armenian allegations of genocide taking place under the Ottoman Turks during World War I. Mizrahi also pointed to the ongoing Turkish military presence, which he described as Turkish occupation, in Turkish-dominated northern Cyprus, Haaretz reported.
The Israeli military, on Saturday, disassociated itself from the critical remarks Maj. Gen. Mizrahi made about Turkey, after Ankara described them as unacceptable and demanded urgent clarification. The Israeli army statement came soon after the Turkish Foreign Ministry summoned Israeli Ambassador to Turkey Gabby Levy on Saturday and handed him a note of protest, denouncing Mizrahi's remarks and saying they "distort reality and are excessive, unfortunate and unacceptable."
The note warned that such remarks "can harm national interests in relations between the two countries."
"We expect the Israeli General Staff, which we believe places importance on relations with the Turkish Armed Forces, to clarify the issue," it added.
Israel is thought to be Turkey's second-biggest partner after the US in terms of military procurement relations, but the former ranks first in supplying technologically poor Turkey with information on high technology.
This is despite the fact that the Israeli government sometimes refuses to transfer certain critical technologies to Turkey in projects contracted to Israeli companies, a problem that has increasingly become an element of frustration in Ankara since 2003.
The major projects that Turkey has contracted to Israel include around $1 billion for the ongoing modernization of US-made M60 A1 tanks in Turkey's inventory, the now completed F-4 (equipped with Popeye missiles) and F-5 fighter modernization projects and a supply of unmanned aerial vehicles (UAVs) purchased from Israel.
| < Prev | Next > |
|---|
