(Ha'aretz) Amir Oren - The Israeli defense establishment - and especially the Mossad, which maintains ties with Turkey's national intelligence organization (MIT) - is concerned over the recent appointment of Hakan Fidan, a personal confidant of Turkish Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan, as head of that organization. Israeli security sources believe the Mavi Marmara incident reflects an intentional change in relations between Israel and Turkey - orchestrated by Erdogan, along with Fidan and Foreign Minister Ahmed Davutoglu. During the past year Fidan served as deputy director of the prime minister's office and played a central role in tightening Turkish ties with Iran, especially on the nuclear issue.
2010-06-07 10:07:12Full ArticleBACK Visit the Daily Alert Archive