Israel, Turkey seek to mend strained relations
18/01/2010
Israeli Defence Minister Ehud Barak met with Turkish counterpart Vecdi Gonul and Foreign Minister Ahmet Davutoglu during a weekend visit to Ankara.
(Zaman, Ha'aretz, Jerusalem Post, Wall Street Journal - 18/01/10; AP, Reuters, AFP, New York Times, World Bulletin - 17/01/10
 Israeli Defence Minister Ehud Barak, right, shakes hands with Turkish Foreign Minister Ahmet Davutoglu in Ankara on Sunday (January 17th). [Getty Images] |
Israeli Defence Minister Ehud Barak held talks with senior Turkish officials in Ankara on Sunday (January 17th) aimed at easing recent tensions between the two allies.
The two countries formed an alliance in the mid-1990s that resulted in more than 20 bilateral military agreements, stronger bilateral co-operation and joint exercises.
But those ties grew strained following Israel's offensive in Palestinian-ruled Gaza last year and the clash between Turkish Prime Minister Tayyip Erdogan and Israeli President Shimon Peres over the matter at the World Economic Forum in Davos in January 2009.
A new diplomatic row was sparked last week when Israeli Deputy Foreign Minister Danny Ayalon publicly humiliated Ankara's envoy to Tel Aviv over a Turkish TV-series portraying Israeli agents as child abductors. The Israeli official, who summoned Ambassador Ahmet Oguz Celikkol to express his country's protest against the show, denied the Turkish diplomat a handshake before the press and arranged for Celikkol to be photographed on a low couch, while he sat in a higher chair.
Outraged, Turkey threatened to withdraw its envoy from Israel. The diplomatic crisis ended when Israel sent a letter to Ankara, apologising for the incident.
Barak, who became the highest-level Israeli official to visit Turkey since last year's confrontation between Erdogan and Peres, called Ayalon's actions "a mistake".
"I believe it was a mistake, and the right step was taken according to the norms of diplomacy," he said at a joint news conference with his official host, Turkish Defence Minister Vecdi Gonul. "It is appropriate that all the ups and downs in our relationship over the years should be solved and put behind us."
Gonul said that Turkey wanted to co-operate with Israel and that the two countries remain allies, making it clear however that their relations would be interest-driven.
"As long as we have the same interests, we work together, to fix the common problems," Reuters quoted the minister's remarks in English. "Also we are allies, we are strategic allies as long as our interests force us to do so."
According to Israeli daily Ha'aretz, the focus of talks at the Turkish defence ministry was on bilateral co-operation in the military industry. The paper reported Gonul as saying that the dispute over a $180m deal for the purchase of ten Israeli-made Heron drones would be resolved by the end of this year.
Barak also met with Foreign Minister Ahmet Davutoglu during the visit. No statements were made after the talks.
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