Posted: Tue Apr 06, 2010 2:27 am Post subject: Turkey aligning with Muslim world
Turkey aligning with Muslim world I have watched Turkey become LESS western and MORE hardline Islamic for 2 years
April 6, 2010 The Foreign Ministry on Sunday said Turkish Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan is attempting to integrate with the Muslim world at the expense of his country's ties with Israel, hours after Erdogan criticized Israel over actions in Jerusalem and Gaza.
"Israel is not interested in confrontation with any country, including Turkey," said the Foreign Ministry in a statement. "The impression that is being created is that the Turkish prime minister is seeking to integrate with the Muslim world at Israel's expense."
Erdogan on Monday addressed the heightened tension in Jerusalem, saying that Turkey will come to the defense of Muslims around the world, according to a report on CNN-Turk.
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"We cannot be indifferent to the problems of the Islamic world of Jerusalem," said Erdogan at a ceremony to mark the opening of an Arab-language television and radio company.
"Our task is the integration with the Western world but we did not turn our back to the East," Erdogan continued. "Arabs and Turks are brothers and we share the same values."
The Turkish prime minister also said that the situation in Gaza is inhumane. "We cannot watch the murder of children in Gaza with indifference," he said. "We worry about the Gaza children but our hearts are also for the children of Haiti and Chile."
The ministry continued, "We suggest he find a more creative way, and to try to integrate with both the Muslim and Western worlds without turning into an extremist leader in the style of Hugo Chavez."
Moreover, the ministry added, in response to Erdogan's remarks about concern over "the murder of children in Gaza with indifference," that he should be equally concerned for the killing of innocent civilians in Pakistan and Iraq at the hands of terrorist groups.
Meanwhile, Turkish television reported Sunday that Ankara will name a new ambassador to Israel to replace envoy Ahmet Oguz Celikkol, who was humiliated in Israel earlier this year.
Celikkol will be be replaced this summer by diplomat and expert on Middle Eastern affairs Kerim Uras.
Celikkol was rebuked by Deputy Foreign Minister Danny Ayalon during a January meeting in which he summoned over an anti-Israeli television show aired in Turkey, and was made to sit in a chair lower than that of Ayalon, while the Turkish flag was deliberately not put on display.
Ayalon later apologized for the incident
http://www.haaretz.com/hasen/spages/1160980.html
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Posted: Tue Apr 27, 2010 5:07 am Post subject: Turkish-Syrian drill raises concerns in Israel
Turkish-Syrian drill raises concerns in Israel
April 27, 2010 Joint military exercise, similar to one held a year ago, signals tightening of ties between Ankara, Damascus. Israeli state officials fear Turkey may transfer Israeli technology to Syria
A joint Turkish-Syrian drill along the border the two countries share will commence Tuesday in a similar outline to a previous exercise conducted a year ago.
The tightening of Turkish-Syrian ties raises concerns in Israel, mainly due to their political significance and the possibility that the relations will expand to full out military cooperation.
Such cooperation may include the transfer of technology Turkey received from Israel into Syrian hands.
The drill illustrates the strengthening of relations between Ankara and Damascus.
Some six months ago the two countries revoked their citizens' need for a visa in crossing the Turkish-Syrian border.
Currently, there are no signs of a leakage of technology, however Israeli state officials continue to worry over the prospect.
Defense Minister Ehud Barak has even raised the issue during his meetings in Washington.
The joint military drill is aimed at tightening cooperation between Turkish and Syrian land forces defending the shared border.
At the core of the exercise is the establishment of procedures which would enable the border protection forces to communicate and coordinate operations in case of a border breach.
No aerial forces, including the RPVs Israel recently sold Turkey, are expected to take part in the drill.
One of the reasons Turkey is interested in strengthening the collaboration with the Syrian army is due to the fact that Kurdish PKK operatives, who also operate inside Turkish territory, infiltrate the country via Syria, which contains a large concentration of Kurds.
Turkey threatened to invade Syria in 1998 if it failed to foil infiltration activities. Syria eventually allowed the Turks to apprehend Kurdish leader Ausman Ojalan, who found refuge in Syria and who is currently detained in Turkey.
The PKK continue to operate in the region, though less extensively.
http://www.ynetnews.com/articles/0,7340,L-3881467,00.html
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Posted: Wed Apr 28, 2010 5:11 am Post subject: Israel will not sell Turkey advanced Barak-8 interceptor
Israel will not sell Turkey advanced naval Barak-8 interceptor
April 27, 2010 Israel has turned down several Turkish requests for advanced military hardware, according to Israeli and Western intelligence sources.
Sources in Ankara say that the impact from Prime minister Tayyep Recep Erdogan's alignment with Syria and Iran and poisonous attacks on Israel is beginning to cut into the Turkish army's operational capabilities.
In recent weeks, Turkish naval chiefs tried to find out in particular if Israel would be willing to sell the Barak 8 missile interceptor,
whose radar provides 360-degree coverage against incoming missiles or air attack, and which was developed in partnership with India.
Security sources told debkafile that it was decided in Jerusalem not to sell, in case Erdogan decided to allow Iranian military intelligence experts to study the Barak-8 and analyze its technology.
This interceptor is a key defensive component for the Israeli missile and warships patrolling the Persian Gulf seas opposite Iran, the Red Sea and the Eastern Mediterranean opposite Syrian and Lebanese shores.
The Turkish Prime minister and Iranian president Mahmoud Ahmadinejad signed a secret military pact on Oct. 28, 2009,
requiring Turkey's military intelligence, its air force and navy to help Iran repel a possible Israeli attack on its nuclear facilities.
It included a provision for the sharing of any data and technology on Israeli weapons systems in Turkish possession, which the IDF might use for a potential strike. Click here for article.
Since that pact was signed, Israel has cut off all advanced weapons supplies to the Turkish armed forces.
India too is flatly against letting Turkey getting hold of the Barak 8, in whose development the Indian Navy has invested $330 million since the program began in 2004. New Delhi fears that from Turkey,
the technology might leak to Tehran, which India fears is capable of trading its secrets with Islamabad for Pakistani nuclear and missile technology.
Six months ago, India and Israel signed a $1.1 billion contract for the purchase of the interceptor and its installation on most of its navy's warships.
The system, complete with launchers, radar and installation sells for $24 million.
The Barak 8 provides warships with all-weather, day-and-night, 360 degrees coverage and is capable of intercepting incoming missiles when they are no more than 500 meters away from target.
http://www.debka.com/article/8744
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Posted: Mon May 31, 2010 5:10 am Post subject: ISRAEL SET for ALL OUT WAR
ISRAEL SET for ALL OUT WAR
Israel braces for Turkish, Hizballah, Hamas reprisals
Greece halts joint drill
It is now bigger than just Turkey and the Gaza-bound terror ships.
May 31, 2010 Israeli concerns that Turkey may not confine itself to strong diplomatic retaliation for the Israel Navy's seizure Monday, May 31, of the
Marmora, the Turkish vessel leading the flotilla for breaking the Gaza blockade and resort to military action along with the Iranian-backed Hizballah and Hamas.
A statement from Ankara threatened "unprecedented and incalculable" reprisals, following which the Turkish chief of staff Gen. Ilker Basbug was recalled urgently to Ankara from a visit to Egypt.
Greece has since halted its joint exercise with Israel in protest against the naval action.
TURKEY is VERY EAGER for WAR!
TURKEY is planning to continue pounding the Israeli blockade with more flotillas and have them escorted by Turkish warships and fighter jets.
Israel merchant vessels moored outside Ashdod port have been instructed to sail into port and take shelter in case of missile attacks from the Gaza Strip against Ashdod and Ashkelon.
Monday morning, Israeli warplanes headed west over the Mediterranean in support of the still ongoing Israeli commando operation aboard the Turkish Marmora,
the scene of violent clashes between Israeli troops and the 600 "peace activists," some of them armed. Ankara later reported 15 dead aboard the vessel.
Israeli army spokesman, Col. Avi Beneyahu, called the incident "an act of terror on the high seas."
Far from being a humanitarian mission, the flotilla was sponsored personally by Turkish prime minister Recep Erdogan to break the Israeli blockade on Gaza and permit arms supplies and terrorist to reach the Strip unrestricted.
It aimed at provoking a widely publicized international incident with fatalities and showing Israel using strong-arm tactics against unarmed peace-lovers.
Its leaders and the nations involved therefore refused to heed warnings that the vessels would be prevented from entering Gaza Port and
rejected Israeli offers to ferry their aid cargo overland to the Gaza Strip. Population within missile range of Gaza advised to take shelter in secured areas.
An estimated 14 activists were killed battling with Israeli troops, and dozens injured. Ten Israeli soldiers were wounded. They were all ferried to Israeli hospitals by helicopter.
The pro-Hamas passengers were described as mobbing the Israeli commandos as they were dropped onto the Marmara's deck,
using knives and iron bars to beat them and shooting with a sidearm snatched from a soldier and at least two other pistols recovered empty from two of the bodies.
Israeli security forces are preparing for the Lebanese Hizballah and Palestinian Hamas to go back to shooting missiles and rockets against Israeli towns, in support of the seaborne attack on Israeli commandos.
The police are also on special alert in and around Israeli Arab communities, after Hamas prime minister Ismail Haniyah called them out on a general strike, and the Holy Places, especially in Jerusalem.
Egypt will face pressure to end its joint embargo on Gaza with Israel at the Arab League Council meeting urgently Tuesday, June 1. Palestinian leader Mahmoud Abbas demanded the session.
Demonstrations against Israel were staged in Syrian and Lebanese towns. Jordan hands stiff complaint to head of Israeli diplomatic mission in Amman.
http://www.debka.com/article/8823
Turkish Prime Minister Recep Erdogan is clearly spoiling for more trouble with Israel. This is manifested by the steps which are revealed here by debkafile's military and intelligence sources.
The peaceful outcome of the Rachel Corrie incident Saturday, June 5, and Israel's efforts to keep the crisis under control have had no effect on his determination to raise rather than de-escalate Turkish-Israeli friction.
Friday, Erdogan made sure his close aides leaked word to the media that he was preparing a large wave of flotillas to challenge Israel's blockade, to be escorted next time by armed Turkish warships with himself possibly on board.
To this, our sources add:
1. The prime minister's office in Ankara is forking out millions of dollars to the IHH (Insani Yardim Vakfi), the Istanbul-based terrorist group linked to al Qaeda and Hamas, with orders to purchase 8-10 large ships for a formidable fleet to challenge the Israeli Navy and its enforcement of the 20-mile blockade of the Gaza Strip.
This is the second time he is recruiting the IHH terrorists who assaulted Israeli commandos boarding the Mavi Marmara on May 31, leaving nine people dead and 45 injured in consequence.
The Washington Post Sunday called for the Erdogan's government's ties to the IHH to be one focus of any international investigation into the Marmara incident, pointing to its support for Hamas,
which the United States has named as a terrorist entity. The paper called foreign minister Ahmet Davutogolu's statement that the Israeli attack "is like 9/11 for Turkey" obscene.
2. Last week, ahead of the Marmara incident, Erdogan began deploying at the Turkish end of Cyprus air, naval and marine units, holding them ready to combat Israeli takeovers of Gaza-bound vessels. He was only restrained from sending them into action by the last-minute intervention of President Barack Obama's NSA James Jones and President Nicolas Sarkozy's chef de bureau who, according to debkafile's Washington and Paris sources, threatened him with isolation in NATO and Europe if he went ahead.
Saturday, the Turkish leader had his aides leak to the media that he was seriously thinking of leading the next flotilla in person to dramatize his confrontation with Israel.
3. At home, the Turkish prime minister shored up his intelligence ranks ahead of his planned showdown with Israel, replacing professional directors for the first time in modern Turkish history with civilians, radical Muslims close to him personally.
debkafile names them for the first time here as Hakan Fidan, the former head of TIKA, the Turkish International & Development Agency, who is appointed head of the Central Turkish Intelligence Agency - MIT,
the equivalent of the Israel Mossad; and Istanbul Governor Muammer Guler, who is the new Undersecretary for Public Order and Security, who in fact directs Turkey's special operations against terrorists.
By these appointments, the Turkish prime minister put paid to any lingering hopes still cherished by some circles in Israel of preserving the long-held back channels to Ankara.
And finally, Turkey's state prosecutors are instructed to prepare charges of murder and piracy on the high seas against Israeli prime minister Binyamin Netanyahu,
defense minister Ehud Barak and chief of staff Lt. Gen. Gaby Ashkenazy.
http://www.debka.com/article/8838
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Posted: Sun Jun 13, 2010 11:23 am Post subject: Turkish Flag Flew over Temple Mount
Turkish Flag Flew over Temple Mount
Turkey, King of the north
Saudi Arabia, King of the south ........... maybe........
June 13, 2010, Sunday | 1 Tammuz, 5770
The Turkish flag was raised over the Temple Mount last week, following the flotilla clash while Jerusalem police banned Jews from holding the monthly march around the ancient gates of the holy site because of “security concerns.”
Police spokesman Mickey Rosenfeld told Israel National News that the unprecedented flag raising was legal.
The pictures of the Turkish flag waving over the Temple Mount, where the First and Second Holy Temples were built and where the golden-domed Al-Aqsa mosque now stands, were published on the Turkish web site PLS48.net.
One blogger pointed out that the incident of a foreign flag over the site coincided with the furor over a project by Muslims to built a 13-story mosque near Ground Zero in New York, where Muslim terrorists attacked and destroyed the twin towers of the World Trade Center Sept. 11, 2001, killing nearly 3,500 people.
Although there is no law against raising flags over the site, the practice has been shunned in order to prevent flaring tempers from Muslims and Jews. The Israel flag was raised over the Temple Mount for a few hours on June 6, 1967, after all of Jerusalem was restored to Israel in the Six-Day War. It was taken down under orders of then-IDF Chief of Staff Moshe Dayan.
Recently-retired Haaretz journalist Nadav Shragai wrote two years ago that researchers previously have suggested various and often conflicting ideas concerning flags over the Old City. He disclosed the previously unpublished conclusions of a study on a political agreement with the Arab world over the status of Jerusalem and its holy sites.
The study was written by Jerusalem Institute for Israel Studies Ora Achimeir after a study by a team led by Israel Prize winner Prof. Ruth Lapidot.
“Achimeir is skeptical about the possibility of both sides to the conflict flying flags without restrictions and believes that 'the situation of hostility and competition between Israelis and Palestinians, which does not seem likely to dissipate in the near future, would lead to mass flying of flags that would turn the historic basin into a bedlam of flags and symbols.’” Shragai wrote.
He noted that during peace talks with Israel in 1978, Egyptian President Anwar Sadat suggested raising the Saudi Arabia flag over holy site in Jerusalem, but then-Prime Minister Menachem Begin fumed at the proposal. “There is no way that something of that kind will ever take place in Jerusalem," Begin declared. "The Temple Mount is the holiest site in Jerusalem. The Israelis also do not raise any flag there. If there is peace, the Arabs will be able to fly flags on every embassy that they open in Jerusalem."
Jimmy Carter, who then was President of the United States, warned that Sadat would not sign a peace treaty without the raising of the Saudi flag. He suggested that a flag would be flown only over the mosque and nowhere else over the Temple Mount, but Begin retorted, "Not on the Temple Mount," according to Shragai. “We are losing our conscience. Is it not enough that we have forbidden [Jews] to pray on the Temple Mount? We will not be able to agree to that also for too long a time. But the raising of a religious flag on the Temple Mount would be tantamount to recognition that it belongs to the Muslims."
Past peace plans that have been proposed by the Foreign Ministry and the Prime Minister's Office have provided that foreign flags be considered "religious flags.” Even in the almost impossible likelihood that Muslims were to allow a Jewish flag over the Temple Mount, one would have to be invented because there is none.
The issue of flags in the area is so emotional that in 1984, the Muslim religious trust, known as the Waqf, demanded that the Jerusalem police unit on the Temple Mount remove an Israeli flag that was inside the commander’s room. The late Yosef Burg, who was Minister of Police at the time, ordered the flags be restored, an act that raised the ire of Muslims.
http://www.israelnationalnews.com/News/News.aspx/138033
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Posted: Wed Jun 16, 2010 6:33 am Post subject: Turkey To Buy 9 European A129 Attack Helicopters
Turkey To Buy 9 European A129 Attack Helicopters
Russia to sell missiles and S-300 and S-400 missile systems to Turkey.
That gets around sanctions on Iran. They go to Turkey then Iran.
Turkey ALONE is responsible for the deaths of their terrorists in Gaza flotilla incident.
IF Israel is at fault in any way, its by falling into the jihad trap that was set for them by Turkey.
Posted: Thu Jun 17, 2010 4:23 am Post subject: Turkey closes airspace to Israel
Turkey closes airspace to Israel
June 17, 2010 Turkey launched a plan Wednesday night (June 16) to campaign on all fronts for a worldwide boycott of Israel and decided to introduce sanctions leading to the severance of bilateral relations.
Its pretext was the absence of a formal apology from Jerusalem for the naval commando raid on the Turkish ship Mavi Marmara ("Blue Marmara"),
which left 8 activists dead (fault of Turkey, NOT Israel), and its rejection of an international inquiry of the incident.
In Washington, early Thursday morning (June 17), Democratic and Republican members of Congress announced at a press conference that there would be price to pay if Ankara continued its hate campaign against Israel and tight ties with Tehran.
Rep. Mike Pence, the third-highest ranking Republican, said: "There will be a cost if Turkey stays on its present heading of growing closer to Iran and more antagonistic to the state of Israel." Democratic Rep. Eliot Engel called Turkey's actions "disgraceful."
While the House and the Senate are getting ready for an active response against Turkey for its deteriorating relations with Israel, the Obama administration is standing still, possibly tied down by friendship with the two contestants in Jerusalem and Ankara.
Obama may also be influenced by some of his closest aides, who are sympathetic to the policies pursued by Turkish Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan and support his aspirations in the Middle East and in the Muslim world.
The most prominent member of the pro-Erdogan faction ion the White House is the president's personal adviser on Muslim affairs, Dalia Mogahed, who does not share the conviction that the Turkish aid society, the IHH, is in fact a terrorist organization, as Israel declared Thursday, June 17 - although more than one European terrorist expert is of that opinion.
The way this declaration was aired by the Netanyahu government was harshly criticized by Israel's security and intelligence sources as too hesitant and uncertain to attract notice, debkafile's sources in Jerusalem report. It was not sourced to any defense ministry official and only appeared in a low spot on a local Channel 2 TV news bulletin.
"If Israel accuses an organization of terrorism, it should do so loud and clear," they said. "We must offer the kind of proof that reverberates strongly around the world. Instead, the information was released almost by stealth and therefore ignored by the international media."
In fact, debkafile's intelligence and counter-terror sources stress the inconspicuous news item was pretty sensational. By listing as terrorists the IHH (Insani Yardim Vakfi), a key component of Erdogan's pro-Islamic AKK government's support system, Israel henceforth defines the group as a target for Israel's covert and military operations and exposes its leaders to retaliation for continuing violence against Israel and its interests.
IHH activists were responsible for the violence aboard the Turkish ship leading the blockade-busting flotilla on May 31. Wednesday, IHH headquarters in Istanbul scheduled the launch of an even bigger flotilla for Gaza some time in July. Its new designation empowers Israel's covert agencies and navy to go for its members and ships - at sea and in Turkish ports.
Still hesitant, Israel has started hitting back at Turkey by escalating its military and intelligence responses to Erdogan's provocations.
The day before, the level of confrontation was ramped up by several notches in Ankara, when the Turkish Defense Industry Implementation Committee – SSIK, in a meeting chaired by Prime Minister Erdogan, decided to freeze 16 security and military agreements signed with Israel.
They include permission for Israel warplanes to use Turkish airspace and apply to intelligence-sharing arrangements and cooperation in combating terrorism and
suspend the longstanding, close military and intelligence cooperation between Turkey and Israel.
The two erstwhile allies are left glaring at each other as antagonists, just one step short of declared enemies.
Ankara nonetheless left a narrow opening - whether to appease the military for its loss of a valued strategic partner or to tempt Israeli leaders to continue to delude themselves that Turkey is not a write-off.
Thursday morning, in a briefing to Turkish journalists, sources close to the Turkish prime minister and the SSK exhibited a very long list of the Israeli and Turkish military projects they had cancelled, including the purchase of advanced Israeli Arrow anti-missile missiles.
However, Turkish Defense Minister Vecdi Gonul commented: "Despite the fact that the decision on the shelving of military agreements had been left to the command of the Foreign Ministry,
it would not be proper for the ruling administration to decide on the actions of military companies in both countries."
By this remark, the Turkish defense minister left a small gap for the Turkish government to review each contract separately and to decide whether to implement or revoke it depending on the needs of the Turkish army.
http://www.debka.com/article/8854
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Posted: Sat Jun 26, 2010 10:20 am Post subject: U.S. REBUKES TURKEY
U.S. REBUKES TURKEY
Erdogan faces US stick, Kurdish rebel upsurge, yet clings to anti-Israel stance
June 26, 2010 Turkish army blames Erdogan for setbacks against rebels
As he took off for the G20 summit opening in Toronto Saturday, June 26, Turkish Prime Minister Recep Erdogan came under an exceptionally acerbic US rebuke for a NATO member.
He was accused of alienating the US and the West and told he needed to demonstrate Ankara's commitment to their (NATO) partnership by Philip Gordon, top US diplomat on European affairs,
in a clear rejection of the Turkish prime minister's assertion in parliament Tuesday June 15:
"There's no shift in Turkey's axis. Turkey is not a city state, it's not a state on which agendas are imposed," he said.
Taking Turkey to task for opposing the new UN sanctions on Iran and its anti-Israel rhetoric over the pro-Palestinian flotilla incident, the US official pointed out:
"There are people asking questions about it in a way that is new, and that in itself is a bad thing that makes it harder for the United States to support some of the things that Turkey would like to see us support."
The Turkish prime minister is also in hot water at home, according to our military sources. Before he flew to Canada, his generals, led by chief of staff Gen. Ilker Basbug, demand that he publicly disavow his insinuations that Israel had a hand in the new Kurdish rebel offensive against the Turkish military. His campaign against Israel, they charged, had caused him to neglect the front against the Kurdish PKK rebels, as a result of which Turkish military deaths were rising. Since June 19, 18 soldiers and several civilians had died in eastern Turkey and Istanbul and 50 in the last two months.
Erdogan promised to consider issuing this disavowal but had not done so before his departure even though high-placed sources in Washington say it would have improved his prospects of seeing the US president and helped ease the frictions between Ankara and Jerusalem. Instead, he was treated to a cold shower from a high-placed US official over Ankara's turn towards Tehran and its allies and campaign against Israel, instead of the certain prospect of a meeting with US President Barack Obama in Toronto.
Following his tour of the Kurdish-Iraqi front lines Sunday, June 20, the General Staff announced on Friday, June 25, that it will "professionalize the operational military forces serving at the borders in parallel with the process of professionalizing six commando brigades to counter terrorism."
During that tour, Turkish military leaders warned their prime minister that by snidely accusing Israel - "We all know who is behind PKK attacks" - he is helping the rebel Kurdish Workers Party's (PKK) cause and encouraging them to redouble their attacks on Turkish troops from their havens in the Qandil Mountains of Iraqi Kurdistan
They stressed that no intelligence data bore out this accusation and, by dragging Israel into the conflict, Erdogan encouraged the Iraqi Kurdistan president Masoud Barzani to strengthen his military and intelligence ties with Israel and the PKK at the expense of relations with Turkey, when his main objective should be to persuade Barzani to stop giving them sanctuary.
Pressed again, the Turkish prime minister promised to clear the air. His aides then promised a retraction to ward of pressure from another quarter, Washington, over his deepening ties with Tehran, Syria and Hizballah, in response to concerns voiced by the visiting US State Department's first special representative to the Muslim Communities, Farah Pandith.
The invitation Erdogan extended to Hizballah's Hassan Nasrallah to pay an official visit to Ankara (which debkafile first revealed on June 22) had raised the dust in the Obama administration. In the event, the visit was called off - though not by Ankara but by the Hizballah leader who feared that no security service could promise him a safe return home.
Beset by rising acrimony from Washington, charges of neglecting national security at home and the Turkish armed forces' inability to contend with the PKK's onslaught, Erdogan has temporarily shelved his threatened operations against Israel.
Since the pro-Palestinian flotilla led by the Turkish Mavi Marmara was intercepted and redirected to Israeli Ashdod on May 31 - leaving nine Turkish activists dead - no further attempts have been made to break Israel's Gaza blockade, whether by Turkey, Iran or Lebanon. Iran, reluctant to carry the can on its own, announced Friday its "aid ship" was delayed by "restrictions from the occupying Zionist regime," while the Turkish prime minister decided to heed a confidential appeal from Lebanese prime minister Saad Hariri not to allow Lebanese craft to set out from Turkey, or ports from Turkish-controlled northern Cyprus, after Israel warned they would be treated as "enemy vessels."
The Turkish leader has set aside some of his more provocative actions for the time being, but debkafile's Ankara sources stress he has not given up on his dream to raise his country to the pinnacle of a new Muslim Middle East bloc - in the first instance, by throwing in Turkey's lot with the most radical Middle East forces dedicated to Israel's destruction.
http://www.debka.com/article/8876 http://www.haaretz.com/news/diplo...owing-gaza-flotilla-raid-1.298728
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Posted: Mon Jun 28, 2010 5:10 am Post subject: Turkey - Israel history, A bigger picture
Turkey - Israel history, A bigger picture
Turkey Cancels Joint Military Drill with Israel
October 11, 2009 [b]
Turkey - Israel relations have cooled. Very sad.
Tensions between Israel and Turkey have heightened in 2009.
Turkey has become hostile towards Israel, whereas in the past it has been Israel's best Muslim friend in the Middle East.
Turkey has cancelled its participation in a joint military exercise with
Israel, NATO, U.S. and Italian forces, which were scheduled to take place in Turkey.
Turkey specifically sought to block the Israel Air Force from participating.
Israel rethinks arms sales to Turkey
I should hope so!!!
Oct 12, 2009 Israel will review Israeli-Turkish relations following Turkey cancellation of a scheduled joint military exercise today.
Arms sales to Turkey now need to be reviewed
due to the change in the diplomatic ties between Jerusalem and Ankara.
Israel postpones Juniper Cobra exercise
Oct 12, 2009 USA and Israeli forces were poised to launch their joint Juniper Cobra strategic missile defense exercise today, when at noon an Israeli military spokesman postponed it week.
The announcement came after Turkey called off its joint air maneuver.
17 US naval ships and ground teams were already in place. Was an attack on Iran planned then cancelled? Unknown.
http://www2.debka.com/headline.php?hid=6315
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Posted: Sun Jul 04, 2010 3:34 pm Post subject: Israel loses Turkey, gains Greece
Israel loses Turkey, gains Greece
This is NOT really news. Its been clear Turkey chose Evil for months.
July 4, 2010 Israel has finally moved on from its fractured relationship with Turkey - notwithstanding the impression conveyed by some US and Israeli circles that the damage is not beyond repair.
This week, the Israeli Minister of Trade and Labor Minister, Binyamin Ben-Eliezer made last-ditch bid to save the relationship by initiating a meeting in Zurich with Turkish Foreign Minister Ahmet Davuto?lu.
It went badly and was hotly debated at the Israeli cabinet meeting Sunday, July 4. Prime Minister Binyamin Netanyahu said he thought it was worth a try,
but most ministers said that given Ankara's harsh hostility, it should never have taken place.
Meanwhile, as Western and Turkish media outlets harped on Israel's loss of its only Muslim ally in the Middle East, Jerusalem was busy acquiring a new strategic partner:
Greece, a NATO member like Turkey with plenty of Middle East interests, has shown interest in stepping into Turkey's shoes and investing in stronger military and intelligence ties.
DEBKA-Net-Weekly 450 reported on June 25 from sources in Athens and Jerusalem that this development was not so much planned in Jerusalem as initiated by Greek Prime Minister George Papandreou, who boasts many Jewish and Israeli friends and business contacts, some of whom hold high political and intelligence positions in Israel. He saw Athens' chance to slot into Ankara's place in Jerusalem and transform their present diplomatic, economic, military and intelligence ties into a thriving strategic alliance, that would carry the same advantages to both sides as did Israel's former relations with Turkey.
According to some sources, Papandreou also hopes this alliance will help ease some of his country's financial woes. But most of all, he is looking to Israel for help in speeding the upgrade of his armed forces and helping transform them into the Christian mainstay of NATO in the Balkans and southern Europe - in place of the Muslim Turkish army.
This notion was not the direct outcome of Israel's break with Turkey or the clash aboard the Turkish Mavi Marmara on May 31 between Israeli commandos and pro-Palestinian Turkish activists. It has been evolving for some time, first broached in the summer of 2008 when Papandreou allowed 100 Israeli F-15 and F-16 fighter-bombers to pass through Greek Mediterranean air space for practicing long flights and in-flight fueling.
The distance between Israel and Greece there and back is 1,900 kilometers, identical to the distance between Israel and Iran.
The Greek prime minister went out of his way to be of assistance, making available to the Israeli Air Force the crews and advanced S-300 PMU1interceptor missile batteries Athens purchased from Russia back in 2000. They were allowed to practice bombing sorties against these batteries, in case Moscow decided to sell them to Iran and Syria.
The severe financial crisis besetting Greece this year enhanced the friendly ties between Athens and Jerusalem. While European Union countries spent long months discussing whether to bail Greece out and save it from collapse (eventually granting a €110 billion package), Papandreou turned to Jewish financial titans in Europe and the United States for help to keep the Greek economy afloat.
http://www.debka.com/article/8891
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Syria massacres Kurds aided by Turkey's drones
July 17, 2010 Israeli HERON drones for Turkey, Syria
Syrian troops and Kurds are locked in fierce battle since Syria blasted 4 Kurdish towns at the end of June.
Hundreds of Kurds are reported dead.
Syria has the Heron (Eitan) spy drones Israel sold Turkey.
Turkey therefore becomes the first NATO member to make advanced Western military technology available for the use of a strong ally of radical Iran and an active sponsor of terrorists. Following intense exchanges between Jerusalem and Washington, the NATO command was urged to put Ankara on the carpet - with no response as yet.
The drones are being used to track Kurds in flight across Syria's borders, mainly into Lebanon, where Hizballah is helping Syria hunt the refugees down. The accessibility to Damascus of the unmanned aerial vehicles is in direct breach of the Israel-Turkish sales contracts which barred their use - and the use of other Israeli high-tech items sold to Turkey during years of close military collaboration - in the service of hostile states or entities.
Extending their sphere to Syrian and Lebanese skies gives the Syrian army and Hizballah (Iran's external arm) a unique opportunity to study the Heron (Eitan)'s sophisticated attributes in real combat conditions at close hand and adjust their own tactics accordingly to outwit them.
debkafile's intelligence sources have no doubt that Iranian intelligence officers stationed in Damascus and Beirut jumped at the opportunity to learn more about the Israeli wonder-drones.
Regarding the crackdown on the Kurds, our military sources report that three large-scale Syrian military operations against the Kurdish people are in progress under the guidance of Turkish generals based at Syrian staff headquarters in Damascus:
1. Syrian elite forces are battling suspected Kurdish members of the Turkish PKK in at least four northeastern Syrian towns near the Syrian-Turkish-Iraqi border triangle: the big Kurdish town of Qamishli, the mixed Kurdish-Assyrian town of Al Asakah and two others, Qaratshuk and Diwar. All four and their outlying villages are under massive Syrian army siege after complete residential blocks were shelled and flattened - acting as the trigger for the current fighting.
Not all the victims are PKK fighters by any means. Most were civilians. Turkish intelligence sources tried to justify the Syrian massacre and their government's complicity by claiming that 2,000 of the 6,000 PKK fighters conducting terrorist attacks in Turkey from North Iraqi havens are Syrian Kurds or providers of alternative bases for their Turkish comrades to strike Turkish military positions from a second direction.
While until Saturday, July 17, Damascus was tight-lipped about its grim campaign against its Kurdish community, Turkish military sources were more vocal. They placed the number of Kurdish dead in battle at 185 and another 400 taken captive, many of whom will be turned over to Ankara. Our sources estimate the number of dead as much higher - more than 300, with at least 1,000 injured.
2. Large Syrian contingents are sealing the Iraqi border against the flight of Syrian Kurds - but also to block the entry of PKK reinforcements for aiding their beleaguered brethren.
3. The Syrian-Lebanese frontier is similarly sealed to keep Kurdish fighters from fleeing the country. debkafile's military sources report that on this border, Syrian and Hizballah units are working together, with the latter forcibly blocking the roads to Lebanese cities.
debkafile reports an all-night gunfight in the Al-Naba'a (Tel Azaatar) district of south Beirut which ended Wednesday morning, July 14 with an unknown number of Kurdish fighters dead.
One was identified by residents as Al Haj Reid, aged 37, a recent arrival from Syria.
When Turkish reporters finally tackled Syrian president Bashar Assad on his anti-Kurd campaign Saturday morning, July 17, their questions were smoothly turned aside. "I'm not following the details concerning this operation," said the Syrian ruler. "The issue is not about capturing 10 or 100 terrorists. What matters is the principle."
He added: "Our cooperation with Turkey in the security field is not new (!). We have coordinated for many years. Intervening when there are preparations for a terrorist attack or for infiltration is a dimension of this cooperation."
debkafile's military sources comment: Syrian military cooperation dates recently from the military pact they signed in October 2009.
As a big ceremony was staged Saturday to celebrate the 10th anniversary of Bashar Assad's ascent to power, the US-based Human Rights Watch group published a report called "A Wasted Decade" declaring there is "no freedom, no rights" in Syria. Instead of the transparency and democracy he promised, his regime suppresses criticism and its prisons soon filled with political prisoners, journalists, and human rights activists.
http://www.debka.com/article/8916
And this is Barak Obama's buddy and hope for mideast peace?
Last edited by CJ on Fri Mar 22, 2013 3:38 pm; edited 2 times in total
Israel to send 4 drones to Turkey
Jul 2010 WHY would Israel send MORE drones to Turkey, after finding out Turkey gave them to Syria to kill Kurds?!?
Israel is set to send 4 more drones to Turkey in August.
The Heron drones are unmanned aircraft used for gathering surveillance.
Turks visited Israel to be trained on operating the aircraft.
Turkey unveiled its own drone airplanes last week in a move that would apparently allow Ankara to sever an important link with Israel which has been its source of drones in the past.
Turkey is dependent on the drones to gather surveillance over the rugged mountains where Kurdish rebels are waging a deadly insurgency.
However the success of the Turkish drone is in doubt.
http://www.jpost.com/LandedPages/PrintArticle.aspx?id=182144
Last edited by CJ on Fri Mar 22, 2013 3:39 pm; edited 2 times in total
Posted: Mon Aug 02, 2010 5:48 am Post subject: Turkey betraying Israel
Turkey betraying Israel
Turkey has turned against Israel and become another axis of evil since late 2009.
I imagine this is absolutely true, after all, they are using Israeli drones to kill Kurds.
August 2, 2010 Israel suspects Turkey is betraying its military secrets to Iran.
Ankara distanced itself further from the West by signing a pact with Iran for the exchange of intelligence in real time in their offensives against Kurdish separatists.
Tehran will maintain a permanent intelligence officers mission at the Turkish general command operations department, while admitting Turkish officers to its own high command operations center.
While the exchanges are formally limited to the war on Kurds, they are certain to spread to other spheres.
Israel is deeply concerned over this and other developments in the wake of the defection of Turkey, its erstwhile strategic partner and long trusted repository of shared military secrets.
Sunday, August 1, defense minister Ehud Barak said the nomination of a new chief of the Turkish secret services who is a supporter of Iran worries Israel.
It could result, in the Iranians having access to secret information.
Two months ago, Turkey appointed an avid admirer of Iran Hakan Fidan as new chief of MIT central intelligence agency.
Fidan made friends with Iranian officials during his stint as Turkish delegate to the International Atomic Energy Commission in Vienna and took their side consistently in controversies over Tehran nuclear program.
It was he who came up with the plan earlier this year for a Turkish-Brazilian initiative to bypass big power diplomacy over Iran and scuttle their plans to place Iran under tough sanctions.
The intelligence exchange pact Ankara signed with Tehran last week added a fresh element to Israel's worries over Turkey's next steps.
http://www.debka.com/article/8943
Last edited by CJ on Fri Mar 22, 2013 3:40 pm; edited 1 time in total
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