JEWISH LIFE IN TURKEY IS TENUOUS

Turkey Forced to Cancel Drill After US, Italy Pull Out

by Hana Levi Julian Turkey Forced to Cancel Drill

A multinational military drill has reportedly been cancelled due to Turkey's unwillingness to allow the Israel Air Force to participate in the exercise.

The cancellation came after the United States and other nations allegedly withdrew from the joint drill following Turkey's ban on Israel's participation.

The air force exercise, which has been held five times since June 2001, was to be hosted by Ankara and originally involved Turkey, Italy, the U.S., NATO forces and the IAF.

But Turkish military officials informed the IDF last week that the IAF was not welcome to fly in this week's "Anatolian Eagle" exercise due to the use of its planes during Israel's counterterrorism Operation Cast Lead in Gaza last winter.

The operation was launched by Israel on December 27, 2008 to end the thousands of rocket attacks fired at civilians living in towns and cities in Israel's southern region. It lasted until Janary 20, 2009.

Anatolian Eagle was slated to begin Monday, October 12, and continue through October 23.

According to a Jerusalem source, the United States and other members of NATO (North American Treaty Organization) expressed to Turkish officials their displeasure at the ban on Israel.

Turkey was forced to postpone the exercise indefinitely after the U.S. and Italy refused to take part without the IAF.

Deputy Foreign Minister Danny Ayalon told Voice of Israel government radio on Sunday, however, that "Turkey has been, and remains an important strategic anchor in the Middle East, and certainly its relations with Israel are something that serve the entire region."

The Anatolian Eagle exercise, intended to improve international aerial cooperation, was hosted at the Konya air base, 250 kilometers south of Ankara. The aircraft trained over the plains of Anatolia (hence the name), near Turkey's borders with Syria, Iran and Iraq.

Israel and Turkey, which until last year enjoyed strong diplomatic, military and trade relations, have flown together over each other's territory in various joint military drills since the signing of a bilateral defense alliance between the two nations in 1996.

Formerly warm ties between Israel and Turkey have cooled considerably since Turkish Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan's harsh criticism of Israel's role in Operation Cast Lead.

Tensions between Turkey and Israel intensified in the wake of a harsh debate over the matter between Erdogan and President Shimon Peres at the World Economic Forum, held in Davos, Switzerland last January.
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Turkey Bans Israel in Joint Military Drill

by Hana Levi Julian

(IsraelNN.com) Turkey has cancelled Israel's participation in a joint military exercise scheduled to take place later this week.

The Anatolian Eagle drill was first initiated in 2001 between Turkey, Israel and the U.S.

"Anatolian Eagle Exercise will be executed as planned between October 12-23. [However], multinational participation has been postponed," said the Turkish government in a statement issued last Thursday.

The maneuvers, intended to be the sixth such exercises, were to have included NATO, U.S. and Italian forces and were scheduled to take place at the Konya Air Base in Turkey.

Turkish media reported over the weekend that Israel was informed of the decision last week.

The IDF Spokesman's Office confirmed that Ankara specifically sought to block the Israel Air Force from participating in the military exercise.

"The exercise was postponed due to a Turkish decision to change the composition of the participants and not allow the Israel Air Force to participate, a decision we were informed of only several days ago," explained the IDF Spokesman's Office in a corresponding statement.

Tensions between Israel and Turkey have heightened since Operation Cast Lead, which took place between December 27, 2008 and January 20, 2009. Turkish Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan has been particularly hostile towards Israel, an attitude that emerged during the 2009 World Economic Forum's Davos conference when he stormed out during a debate with Israel's President Shimon Peres.

Three months later, Turkey and Syria began their first-ever joint land forces exercise in a military drill that Ankara said was meant to "boost friendship, cooperation and confidence" between the two nations. Turkey, which in the past had been characterized as "Israel's best Muslim friend in the Middle East," has slowly been warming its relations with the enemies of the Jewish State over the past year.

Israelis responded to Turkey's hostility a few months later by withholding their traditional holiday flights from the Middle Eastern nation during Passover, choosing instead to invest their tourism shekels with friendlier destinations.