[Ynet News] Ron Ben-Yishai - Muslim Turkey was for many years a formidable and reliable ally of Israel. However, as seen in the decision to cancel Israel's participation in NATO's aerial drill in Turkey, our strategic relations with it appear to be in freefall as security cooperation between the two states is increasingly being eroded. Turkey would not have adopted such a move had its government not concluded that the benefit it can expect among regional states by shunning Israel is greater than the potential damage. New deals worth hundreds of millions of dollars offered by Israel's defense industries to the Turkish army, as well as cooperation with Turkish colleagues, are being put on hold or are cancelled altogether. Recently, Ankara preferred to purchase a spy satellite from Italy, even though it is inferior in quality and more expensive than the Israeli product offered to Turkey. In order not to sabotage what is still left of the relationship, officials in Jerusalem prefer to maintain a low profile. However, we must recognize the fact that Ankara, for the time being at least, is no longer a dependable strategic and security partner for Israel.
2009-10-14 06:00:00Full ArticleBACK Visit the Daily Alert Archive