‘TURKEY TO KEEP MILITARY TIES WITH ISRAEL’

PRESS TV
Feb 23 2009
Iran

Military projects between Israel and Turkey are in process.

A senior Turkish official says a recent rift between Tel Aviv and
Ankara will not affect the two sides’ joint military projects.

Turkey’s Undersecretary for the Defense Industry Murad Bayar denied
media reports that Tel Aviv has rejected arms orders from Ankara after
relations between the two sides stained over the Israeli invasion of
the Gaza Strip, the Turkish daily Hurriyet reported.

"Turkey and Israel have mutual benefits in these projects. The
projects are carried out within such framework," the daily quoted
Bayar as saying at the International Defense Exhibition and Conference
(IDEX-2009) in Abu Dhabi, the United Arab Emirates.

The remarks were made after media reports citing Israeli officials said
that Tel Aviv was mulling over rejecting an arms request by Ankara.

Relations between the two sides began to strain after Turkish Prime
Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan publicly slammed Israel over its
offensive against the Gaza Strip.

The tension escalated after Israeli Ground Forces Commander Avi Mizrahi
said Erdogan, who criticized Israel’s military campaign on Gaza,
"should first look in the mirror".

He accused Ankara of "committing a massacre of Armenians, as well
as suppression of the Kurds". The remarks drew harsh reactions from
Turkish officials and forced the Israeli side to express regret
and apologize.