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  • Israel Cancels Military Contract With Turkey to Supply Aerial System

    Israel Cancels Military Contract With Turkey to Supply Aerial System

    Israel Cancels Military Contract With Turkey to Supply Aerial System

    By ISABEL KERSHNER

    JERUSALEM — The Israeli government has canceled a $141 million contract to supply Turkey with an advanced aerial intelligence system, Israeli officials confirmed on Friday. The move appeared to reflect a profound reassessment of strategic ties with Turkey, a former ally, months after Turkey downgraded diplomatic relations with Israel.

    The reason, one official said, was that given Turkey’s shifting allegiances in a turbulent region, Israel feared that the delicate technology could end up in the hands of hostile governments, like Iran.

    The contract, between the Israeli military companies that developed the product and the Turkish military, was signed two years ago when relations were not as chilly as they are now, but the first delivery of equipment was due only now. Israel’s Ministry of Defense, which issues the export licenses for all such deliveries, decided on Thursday to stop the deal.

    There was no immediate comment from the Turkish side on the Israeli cancellation of the contract. The decision was most likely taken after broader consultation within the Israeli government, according to an Israeli military industries official. He spoke on the condition of anonymity in order to be able to express himself more freely.

    The Ministry of Defense said in a statement that it “does not usually delineate the particular information or considerations that form the basis of its defense export-policy decisions.”

    The statement said such decisions “are taken in a professional manner and in accordance with the specific diplomatic and security considerations.”

    But apparently in an attempt to prevent further deterioration in Israeli-Turkish relations, Israeli security officials added that the decision was directly related to the specific system in question, and not the overall relationship between the two countries. They said that those relations were extremely important to Israel and that Israel was working to improve them.

    The new equipment that Israel was supposed to supply to Turkey is an optic system based on radar technology that can be installed under the wings of aircraft and give a clear picture of what is happening on the ground in all weather conditions, day or night. It was developed by subsidiaries of Israel Aerospace Industries and of Elbit Systems, which trades on the Nasdaq and the Tel Aviv Stock Exchange.

    Turkey, a member of NATO, once ranked as Israel’s closest ally in the Muslim world. Ties between the two countries’ militaries and military industries were particularly strong.

    Relations began to sour after Israel’s three-week war against Hamas in Gaza in the winter of 2008-9. They reached a crisis point in May 2010 when an Israeli commando raid on a Turkish protest boat, part of an international flotilla challenging Israel’s naval blockade of Gaza, led to clashes during which eight Turks and an American of Turkish descent were killed.

    In September, after Israel refused to apologize for the deaths, Turkey downgraded diplomatic relations to the lowest level and expelled the Israeli ambassador. Turkey’s foreign minister, Ahmet Davutoglu, said at the time that all military agreements had been suspended. The contract just canceled by Israel was the last outstanding one since the deterioration of ties.

    Several senior Israeli officials, including the defense minister, Ehud Barak, have indicated support for the idea of apologizing to Turkey. But they also argue that Turkey’s shift toward the Arab world and efforts to become a major regional player make it unlikely that relations with Israel would go back to being as close as they once were.

    The Israeli military industries official said that despite Turkish declarations about cutting all military ties, working relations between the Israeli military industry and the Turkish military were good until Thursday. But Israel has been reluctant to send technical teams to Turkey to provide service under previous contracts. In some cases, Turkey has sent equipment to Israel for repairs.

    A version of this article appeared in print on December 24, 2011, on page A6 of the New York edition with the headline: Israel Cancels Military Contract With Turkey to Supply Aerial System.

    via Israel Cancels Military Contract With Turkey to Supply Aerial System – NYTimes.com.

  • Turkey ‘set to sue’ Israel as rift deepens

    Turkey ‘set to sue’ Israel as rift deepens

    îèåñ ììà èééñ - îçõ 1TEL AVIV, Israel, Oct. 19 (UPI) — Turkey’s high-profile rift with its erstwhile strategic ally Israel has deepened with reports that Ankara is ready to sue the Jewish state if it fails to supply 10 unmanned aerial vehicles ordered in 2005.

    Under the $180 million contract, Israel Aerospace Industries, the flagship of Israel’s defense industry, and Elbit Systems, the country’s leading electronics specialist, were expected to deliver four of the Heron UAVs in August, with the series completed by the end of October.

    But they missed the deadline. The Israelis said the delay was caused by problems in upgrading the Heron engines so that Turkish-made electro-optical payloads could be fitted to the UAVs.

    Israel Radio quoted Defense Ministry officials as saying the problem had now been solved.

    It was not clear whether deliveries had taken place. But Turkish publication Today’s Zaman quoted a senior official at the Undersecretariat for Defense Industries as saying Thursday: “Turkey plans to impose a heavy monetary penalty for the delay.

    “If this country refuses to comply with the penalty, then Turkey will head to the International Court of Commercial Arbitration.”

    The Turkish government’s hard-line position underscored the degree to which once-flourishing relations between the two countries, the leading non-Arab military powers in the eastern Mediterranean and the Levant, have deteriorated in recent months.

    In particular, a series of serious diplomatic confrontations over Israeli military actions against Palestinians in recent months, culminating in the Dec. 27-Jan.18 invasion of the Gaza Strip, effectively shattered the alliance that was formalized in a 1996 agreement.

    Trouble has been brewing ever since the Islamist-based Justice and Development Party took power in Ankara in 2002.

    The Turkish move away from Israel has accelerated under Prime Minister Recep Tayyep Erdogan, who has his eyes on restoring Turkey’s leadership role in the Muslim world following the collapse of Ankara’s bid to join the European Union.

    To restore Turkey’s status in the Muslim world, which vanished with the collapse of the Ottoman Empire after World War I, Erdogan had to shed the alliance with Israel.

    Last week NATO member Turkey abruptly excluded Israel from biannual air exercises codenamed Anatolian Eagle, in which U.S., European and Israeli forces regularly participated. The maneuvers were canceled after the United States and Italy subsequently pulled out.

    Ankara cited the delay in the Heron deliveries as one of the main reasons for snubbing Israel over the October exercises.

    The impact of the Turkish action has been heightened by international condemnation of Israel’s massive 22-day military offensive in Gaza, in which some 1,300 Palestinians, most of them civilians, were killed. Israeli fatalities totaled 13, several from friendly fire.

    Israelis feel Ankara is employing a double standard by ignoring that it conducts offensive operations against its Kurdish separatists, including incursions into northern Iraq.

    Turkey’s leading daily newspaper, Hurriyet, has suggested that the “icy new tone” in relations is not likely to ease off any time soon.

    Israelis have been aghast at the deterioration in relations with a country they thought was a close ally and friend. Their concern has been deepened by an upswing in Ankara’s relations withSyria, one of Israel’s main Arab foes, in recent weeks.

    In April, Turkey conducted military exercises with Syria, a country with which it almost went to war in the late 1990s.

    If the Turks decide to take legal action against Israeli defense companies over the Heron issue, relations will undoubtedly be aggravated further. It would also likely mean the end of substantial Israeli arms sales to Turkey.

    According Israeli media reports, the largely state-run defense industries acknowledge that the volume of exports to Turkey has been diminishing in the last couple of years.

    U.S. and European companies, particularly Italian, have been moving in to replace Israeli companies.

    As the crisis has deepened, Israeli defense sources have indicated that the Jewish state might seek to retaliate against Turkey, possibly by cutting off the sale of advanced weapons systems.

    Source:  www.upi.com, Oct. 19, 2009