Turkey-Israel in air exercise row

Story from BBC NEWS:
middle_east/8301321.stm

Published: 2009/10/11 11:45:28 GMT

Turkey has postponed a joint air force drill after opposing Israel’s
participation, the Israeli army says.

The regular exercise to improve international aerial cooperation was to
involve several Nato air forces.

But Israel’s exclusion led to the United States and Italy refusing to
take part in the exercise either.

Relations between Israel and Turkey have cooled since Ankara criticised
Israel’s offensive in the Hamas-ruled Gaza Strip in December and
January.

Turkey and Israel have previously enjoyed close military cooperation
and conduct joint naval exercises.

The two countries share intelligence and have strong trade ties,
following a military cooperation agreement in 1996.

Turkey is one of the few Muslim countries to have relations with
Israel, but these have been under strain since the Islamist-rooted AK
Party was elected to power in 2002.

In January, Turkish Prime Minister Tayyip Erdogan publicly criticised
Israel over the Gaza campaign and walked out on Israeli President
Shimon Peres at the World Economic Forum in Switzerland.