ISRAEL HAS HIGH HOPES FOR TURKEY

press tv
Wed, 25 Feb 2009 18:35:24 GMT

Ambassador Gaby Levy says Turkey is an important partner of Israel.

An Israeli official says Tel Aviv has placed great importance on its
relations with Ankara, hoping the recent row would soon come to an end.

The Israeli ambassador to Turkey, Gaby Levy, on Wednesday told the
Turkish newspaper Aksam that Israel has realized the importance of
Turkey in the wake of recent tensions.

The Tel Aviv-Ankara relations deteriorated after Turkish Prime Minister
Recep Tayyip Erdogan criticized Israeli President Shimon Peres at the
World Economic Forum in Davos, Swiss, over the conduct of an Israeli
military campaign in Gaza.

Levy said military ties as well as the condition of Jewish people in
Turkey have rendered the country extremely important.

"I can mention two main reasons… Turkey is part of our
culture. Turkey is also one the only two countries in the world
that are nicely hosting the Jews," said Levy without naming the
other country.

"The second reason is that we have strong military and defense ties
with Turkey. We have intelligence partnership. There are many Jewish
technicians in the Turkish army," the Israeli ambassador continued.

Levy added that the recent crisis would be resolved just like the
previous ones were dissolved, Press TV correspondent Mehdi Gholizadeh
reported.

The tensions skyrocketed after the Turkish Fo reign Ministry summoned
the Israeli ambassador earlier this month to protest comments made
by an Israeli army general about Premier Erdogan.

General Avi Mizrahi, the commander of Israel’s ground forces, had
said Erdogan should have "looked in the mirror" before lashing out
at President Peres in Davos.

He has also accused Turkish prime minister of massacring the Armenians
and suppressing the Kurdish minority in the country.