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TURKEY TO FREEZE BILATERAL RELATIONS WITH ISRAEL, EXCLUDES PRIVATE SECTOR
Today's Zaman
June 17 2010
Turkey
The Defense Industry Implementation Committee convened under the
chairmanship of Prime Minister Erdogan to discuss the issue of military
agreements and projects with Israel.
Tension that broke out between Turkey and Israel when the latter
killed eight Turkish citizens and a US citizen of Turkish origin in a
raid on a Gaza-bound humanitarian aid flotilla has resulted in Turkey
freezing bilateral relations with Israel -- but joint projects and
contracts signed with Israeli companies will remain as they are.
The Defense Industry Implementation Committee (SSİK) convened under
the chairmanship of PM Recep Tayyip Erdogan to take up the issue of
military agreements and projects with Israel. Turkey -- which recalled
its ambassador to Tel Aviv and cancelled three military exercises in
the aftermath of a bloody Israeli raid on the Mavi Marmara aid ship
-- has shelved 16 bilateral agreements due to Israel's refusal to
apologize for the killings or pay compensation.
Thus, all Turkish-Israeli agreements at the state level have
been cancelled. In a statement made during a trip to South Korea,
President Abdullah Gul said Turkey had prepared a roadmap on the
issue of sanctions against Israel but noted that this would be
announced by the government. The first signs that such a plan was
in the works appeared on Monday in a Cabinet decision. The roadmap
details a process through which Turkey will completely cut its ties
with Israel and comprises several stages.
First, should Israel fail to send a member to a UN investigatory
commission being formed to look into the deadly raid, Turkey will not
send its ambassador back to Tel Aviv. Furthermore, Turkey will not in
any way recognize the Israeli-led investigation into its own troops'
attack on the Mavi Marmara.
All bilateral projects in the field of military training and
cooperation will be frozen; a $757 million plane and tank modernization
project and a missile project worth over $1.5 billion have already
been shelved. The majority of work on these projects was planned to
be cooperative Turkish-Israeli efforts.
The Land Forces Command had been planning to collaborate with Israel
on a $5 billion tank project within the next 10 years. Israel wants to
sell 1,000 Merkava Mark III combat tanks to Turkey, worth $5 billion,
but this project has been shelved. In addition, Turkish military
officers have abandoned a plan to modernize M-60 tanks in Kayseri
with the Israelis for $50 million.
Other abandoned projects would have modernized, through an
Israeli-Singaporean consortium, 54 F-4 Phantom planes for $632.5
million and 48 F-5 jets for $75 million.
In addition to shelving 16 major agreements, Turkey has also decided
not to cooperate on joint projects, particularly in the field of
military training and cooperation. Turkish F-16 pilots will not be
sent to Israel for training as planned, while joint military exercises
with the Middle Eastern country will also not be held. No international
military exercises will be held with Israeli participation and Turkish
airspace will be closed to Israeli military aircraft.
An agreement on cooperation in the field of fighting terrorism signed
between Turkey and Israel -- which provided Turkey with valuable
intelligence on Armenian Secret Army for the Liberation of Armenia
(ASALA) terrorist organization camps in Lebanon in the 1980s --
has also been frozen by the Turkish side.
Before the raid on the Mavi Marmara, Turkey had held preliminary
meetings with the Israelis over Arrow missile defense systems,
conventional and plastic mine detectors and terrestrial radar systems
to prevent infiltrations into Turkey from its borders with Syria and
Iraq. Turkey has abandoned these plans as well as plans to purchase
from Israel two patrol aircraft and Airborne Warning and Control System
(AWACS) aircraft worth $800 million.
A $500 million package for the joint production of Popeye I and Popeye
II air-to-air missiles and another project to produce $150 million
of long-range Delilah missiles has also been shelved.
Corporate-level projects to continue Meanwhile, Turkish Foreign Trade
Minister Zafer Caglayan warned against efforts in Israel to boycott
Turkish goods, saying that Turkey would react harshly should such
a thing occur. Reacting on Wednesday to reports yet to be confirmed
with Israeli authorities that an Israeli court had, after the Mavi
Marmara incident, ordered an injunction on the bank accounts and $10
million in receivables of Turkish Yılmazlar Group construction firm
in Israel, Caglayan emphasized that there should be a distinction
made between political relations and commercial ties.
While the SSİK meeting led by Erdogan decided to end all
state-level relations with Israel, the committee left the issue of
agreements between military industry firms to the discretion of those
corporations. The committee said it would not be appropriate for it
to decide upon the fate of agreements and joint projects operated by
ASELSAN, HAVELSAN, ROKETSAN and the Turkish Mechanical and Chemical
Industry Corporation (MKE). What the committee did decide is that
should most of these agreements be cancelled, sanctions including
compensation will be arranged -- but the initiative has been left to
the firms themselves.
At the same time, however, it is known that such firms, both in Israel
and in Turkey, are government-supported.
In a statement made after the six-hour SSİK meeting ended, Defense
Minister Vecdi Gönul said that despite the fact that the decision on
the shelving of military agreements had been left at 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. The
SSİK also decided the only path to a reversal of its decisions to
freeze ties would be for Israel to apologize to Turkey and agree to
an international investigation into the deadly Mavi Marmara raid.
In accordance with a Cabinet decision, Turkey's roadmap from here on
out will attempt to isolate Israel in the international arena.
Following the condemnation of the Israeli military's actions by the
United Nations, NATO, the Organization of the Islamic Conference
(OIC), the Arab League and the Turkish-Arab Cooperation Forum, Turkey
will attempt to isolate Israel in every arena, leaving the nation to
stand alone. A new strategy will also be implemented in an attempt
to sway the attitude of the European Union with regard to Israel.
From: A. Papazian
Today's Zaman
June 17 2010
Turkey
The Defense Industry Implementation Committee convened under the
chairmanship of Prime Minister Erdogan to discuss the issue of military
agreements and projects with Israel.
Tension that broke out between Turkey and Israel when the latter
killed eight Turkish citizens and a US citizen of Turkish origin in a
raid on a Gaza-bound humanitarian aid flotilla has resulted in Turkey
freezing bilateral relations with Israel -- but joint projects and
contracts signed with Israeli companies will remain as they are.
The Defense Industry Implementation Committee (SSİK) convened under
the chairmanship of PM Recep Tayyip Erdogan to take up the issue of
military agreements and projects with Israel. Turkey -- which recalled
its ambassador to Tel Aviv and cancelled three military exercises in
the aftermath of a bloody Israeli raid on the Mavi Marmara aid ship
-- has shelved 16 bilateral agreements due to Israel's refusal to
apologize for the killings or pay compensation.
Thus, all Turkish-Israeli agreements at the state level have
been cancelled. In a statement made during a trip to South Korea,
President Abdullah Gul said Turkey had prepared a roadmap on the
issue of sanctions against Israel but noted that this would be
announced by the government. The first signs that such a plan was
in the works appeared on Monday in a Cabinet decision. The roadmap
details a process through which Turkey will completely cut its ties
with Israel and comprises several stages.
First, should Israel fail to send a member to a UN investigatory
commission being formed to look into the deadly raid, Turkey will not
send its ambassador back to Tel Aviv. Furthermore, Turkey will not in
any way recognize the Israeli-led investigation into its own troops'
attack on the Mavi Marmara.
All bilateral projects in the field of military training and
cooperation will be frozen; a $757 million plane and tank modernization
project and a missile project worth over $1.5 billion have already
been shelved. The majority of work on these projects was planned to
be cooperative Turkish-Israeli efforts.
The Land Forces Command had been planning to collaborate with Israel
on a $5 billion tank project within the next 10 years. Israel wants to
sell 1,000 Merkava Mark III combat tanks to Turkey, worth $5 billion,
but this project has been shelved. In addition, Turkish military
officers have abandoned a plan to modernize M-60 tanks in Kayseri
with the Israelis for $50 million.
Other abandoned projects would have modernized, through an
Israeli-Singaporean consortium, 54 F-4 Phantom planes for $632.5
million and 48 F-5 jets for $75 million.
In addition to shelving 16 major agreements, Turkey has also decided
not to cooperate on joint projects, particularly in the field of
military training and cooperation. Turkish F-16 pilots will not be
sent to Israel for training as planned, while joint military exercises
with the Middle Eastern country will also not be held. No international
military exercises will be held with Israeli participation and Turkish
airspace will be closed to Israeli military aircraft.
An agreement on cooperation in the field of fighting terrorism signed
between Turkey and Israel -- which provided Turkey with valuable
intelligence on Armenian Secret Army for the Liberation of Armenia
(ASALA) terrorist organization camps in Lebanon in the 1980s --
has also been frozen by the Turkish side.
Before the raid on the Mavi Marmara, Turkey had held preliminary
meetings with the Israelis over Arrow missile defense systems,
conventional and plastic mine detectors and terrestrial radar systems
to prevent infiltrations into Turkey from its borders with Syria and
Iraq. Turkey has abandoned these plans as well as plans to purchase
from Israel two patrol aircraft and Airborne Warning and Control System
(AWACS) aircraft worth $800 million.
A $500 million package for the joint production of Popeye I and Popeye
II air-to-air missiles and another project to produce $150 million
of long-range Delilah missiles has also been shelved.
Corporate-level projects to continue Meanwhile, Turkish Foreign Trade
Minister Zafer Caglayan warned against efforts in Israel to boycott
Turkish goods, saying that Turkey would react harshly should such
a thing occur. Reacting on Wednesday to reports yet to be confirmed
with Israeli authorities that an Israeli court had, after the Mavi
Marmara incident, ordered an injunction on the bank accounts and $10
million in receivables of Turkish Yılmazlar Group construction firm
in Israel, Caglayan emphasized that there should be a distinction
made between political relations and commercial ties.
While the SSİK meeting led by Erdogan decided to end all
state-level relations with Israel, the committee left the issue of
agreements between military industry firms to the discretion of those
corporations. The committee said it would not be appropriate for it
to decide upon the fate of agreements and joint projects operated by
ASELSAN, HAVELSAN, ROKETSAN and the Turkish Mechanical and Chemical
Industry Corporation (MKE). What the committee did decide is that
should most of these agreements be cancelled, sanctions including
compensation will be arranged -- but the initiative has been left to
the firms themselves.
At the same time, however, it is known that such firms, both in Israel
and in Turkey, are government-supported.
In a statement made after the six-hour SSİK meeting ended, Defense
Minister Vecdi Gönul said that despite the fact that the decision on
the shelving of military agreements had been left at 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. The
SSİK also decided the only path to a reversal of its decisions to
freeze ties would be for Israel to apologize to Turkey and agree to
an international investigation into the deadly Mavi Marmara raid.
In accordance with a Cabinet decision, Turkey's roadmap from here on
out will attempt to isolate Israel in the international arena.
Following the condemnation of the Israeli military's actions by the
United Nations, NATO, the Organization of the Islamic Conference
(OIC), the Arab League and the Turkish-Arab Cooperation Forum, Turkey
will attempt to isolate Israel in every arena, leaving the nation to
stand alone. A new strategy will also be implemented in an attempt
to sway the attitude of the European Union with regard to Israel.
From: A. Papazian