JERUSALEM - Israel and Turkey have managed to retain military cooperation despite rising political tension, a report by the Jerusalem Center for Public Affairs said.
The report asserted that the Islamist government of Turkish Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan has kept their military partnership with Israel despite their political crisis this year. Still, the Center, in a report by a leading U.S. analyst, warned that Israeli-Turkish relations were threatened by Ankara’s strategic alliance with Syria.
“Israel’s military relationship with Turkey, including ongoing joint air force training, military exchanges, and arms sales, appears to be secure for the time being,” the report, titled “The Islamist Transformation in Turkish Politics,” said. “Should bilateral political tensions continue, and as Ankara and Damascus enhance strategic ties, inevitably Israeli-Turkish military-to-military relations will suffer.”
Authored by former U.S. Defense Department analyst David Schenker, the report did not detail current Israeli-Turkish military cooperation. Instead, Mr. Schenker pointed to Turkey’s cancellation of Israel’s participation in the NATO-aligned Anatolian Eagle exercise in October 2009.
In the wake of the cancellation, the Turkish government announced plans to conduct a Turkish military exercise with Syria. The report said Ankara’s decision was expected and reflected the policy of the ruling pro-Islamist Justice and Development Party.
The report said Turkey’s key motive for a military alliance with Israel, launched in 1996, was Ankara’s war with the Kurdistan Workers Party (PKK). By 1999, Turkey had forced Syria to expel PKK leader Abdullah Ocalan and later arrested him. Since 2002, Syria and Turkey have signed 46 agreements, including a military training pact.
“Turkey no longer needed Israeli assistance to pressure the Syrian government to change its policy of providing safe-haven to the terrorist Kurdish Worker’s Organization,” the report said.
Mr. Schenker, now a senior fellow at the Washington Institute, said Ankara’s embrace of Syria over the last three years reflected the decline of Turkey’s military. He said Mr. Erdogan’s party, which has succeeded in marginalizing the military, has been promoting relations with such countries as Qatar, Sudan and Syria while rejecting pro-Western Egypt, Jordan and Tunisia.
“Today, the Turkish military can do little to impact the policies of the Islamist AKP (Justice and Development Party), which promote solidarity with Islamist, anti-Western regimes while dismissing secular, pro-Western Muslim governments,” the report said.
The report said Turkey began weakening its relationship with Israel as early as 2006. This year, however, Ankara sparked a crisis with Israel during its war with Hamas as the Turkish government improved relations with Syria. This included the first Syrian-Turkish military exercise in April.
“Clearly, 2009 was a watershed year for the Turkey-Syria bilateral relationship and a year of setbacks for Israeli-Turkish ties,” the report said. “While the long-term implications of these developments remain to be seen, the current trajectory is not cause for optimism.”
Mr. Schenker said Turkey’s support for Iran and Syria has raised concern within NATO. He said Ankara’s pro-Iranian policy could harm U.S. interests in the Middle East. “Perhaps more worrisome is the prospect that Ankara may, over time, pursue a closer foreign policy alignment with Iran that would undermine U.S. and Israeli regional interests,” the report said.
View the original article in the Philadelphia Bulletin
Showing posts with label Sudan. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Sudan. Show all posts
Monday, December 7, 2009
Monday, November 23, 2009
The Philadelphia Bulletin: US Weary over Turkey-Iran Deal
by David Bedein
JERUSALEM - The Middle East Newsline has confirmed that the United States has expressed increasing dissatisfaction with Turkey's alliance with neighboring Iran.
U.S. officials said the Turkish rapprochement with Iran would be a leading item on the agenda of talks during a summit in Washington in December and added that President Barack Obama would raise the Turkish alliance with Iran during his meeting with Turkish Prime Minister Recep Erdogan.
"It's not a good thing to make business, at the moment, with Iran," U.S. Assistant Secretary Philip Gordon said.
Mr. Gordon, responsible for European and Eurasian affairs, met Turkish officials in November to discuss the agenda for Mr. Erdogan's meeting with the Obama administration. During a wide-ranging briefing, the U.S. official stressed that Ankara and Washington would be required to resolve a range of issues.
"There were more points of disagreement than of agreement with Turkey," Mr. Gordon said.
In November, Iran and Turkey signed a multi-billion-dollar energy agreement that elicited strong opposition from Washington.
Officials said the Obama administration warned the Erdogan government that the accord sent the wrong signal to Iran amid the international drive to stop its uranium enrichment program.
"Iran needs to be assured that it has to cooperate with the international community," Mr. Gordon said.
"Otherwise, it will face consequences."
The Obama administration has also been alarmed by Mr. Erdogan's statements that Turkey would not support United Nations Security Council sanctions on Iran. Turkey, a leading member of NATO, has been a non-permanent member of the council.
Other disagreements between Ankara and Washington were said to include Turkey's warm relationship with Sudan. In November, Turkey invited Sudanese President Omar Bashir, accused of war crimes in the Darfur province, to an Islamic summit in Istanbul.
The American government has also been dismayed by Mr. Erdogan's efforts to reduce Turkish defense and strategic relations with Israel. Mr. Erdogan was warned by the U.S. that the prime minister's policy would hurt Turkish interests in the U.S. Congress.
"Americans watch closely Turkey’s relations with its neighbors," Mr. Gordon said.
View the original article in the Philadelphia Bulletin
JERUSALEM - The Middle East Newsline has confirmed that the United States has expressed increasing dissatisfaction with Turkey's alliance with neighboring Iran.
U.S. officials said the Turkish rapprochement with Iran would be a leading item on the agenda of talks during a summit in Washington in December and added that President Barack Obama would raise the Turkish alliance with Iran during his meeting with Turkish Prime Minister Recep Erdogan.
"It's not a good thing to make business, at the moment, with Iran," U.S. Assistant Secretary Philip Gordon said.
Mr. Gordon, responsible for European and Eurasian affairs, met Turkish officials in November to discuss the agenda for Mr. Erdogan's meeting with the Obama administration. During a wide-ranging briefing, the U.S. official stressed that Ankara and Washington would be required to resolve a range of issues.
"There were more points of disagreement than of agreement with Turkey," Mr. Gordon said.
In November, Iran and Turkey signed a multi-billion-dollar energy agreement that elicited strong opposition from Washington.
Officials said the Obama administration warned the Erdogan government that the accord sent the wrong signal to Iran amid the international drive to stop its uranium enrichment program.
"Iran needs to be assured that it has to cooperate with the international community," Mr. Gordon said.
"Otherwise, it will face consequences."
The Obama administration has also been alarmed by Mr. Erdogan's statements that Turkey would not support United Nations Security Council sanctions on Iran. Turkey, a leading member of NATO, has been a non-permanent member of the council.
Other disagreements between Ankara and Washington were said to include Turkey's warm relationship with Sudan. In November, Turkey invited Sudanese President Omar Bashir, accused of war crimes in the Darfur province, to an Islamic summit in Istanbul.
The American government has also been dismayed by Mr. Erdogan's efforts to reduce Turkish defense and strategic relations with Israel. Mr. Erdogan was warned by the U.S. that the prime minister's policy would hurt Turkish interests in the U.S. Congress.
"Americans watch closely Turkey’s relations with its neighbors," Mr. Gordon said.
View the original article in the Philadelphia Bulletin
Thursday, May 28, 2009
The Philadelphia Bulletin: Hezbollah Cell training in Sudan
by David Bedein
The Middle East Newsline has confirmed the Hezbollah network in Egypt planned to train its recruits in suicide bombing tactics in Sudan and in other countries in the Middle East.
Egyptian security sources report that Hezbollah operatives told interrogators the network worked to send scores of recruits for training in Lebanon, Libya, Sudan and Syria. Hezbollah had prepared training areas and instructors for these Egyptian recruits.
“The issue is much bigger than Hezbollah,” Egyptian Foreign Minister Ahmed Abu al-Gheit said. “It is an attempt to harm Egypt’s interests and twist its policy.”
So far, Egypt has identified at least 49 suspected members of the Hezbollah network. The sources said the network numbered 100 members, with about a quarter of them hiding in the Sinai Peninsula.
The Egyptian daily newspaper al-Masri al-Yom reported that two of the detainees detailed a Hezbollah plot to conduct a major terror attack in Tel Aviv.
Mohammed Ramadan Abdul Fatah Baraka and Nadal Hassan were identified as members of the Fatah movement who infiltrated Egypt from the Gaza Strip and settled in al-Arish, Egypt.
Hezbollah planned to send Baraka and Hassan to Sudan for training in suicide strikes. From Sudan, the sources said, the two Palestinians had been scheduled to fly to Syria and Lebanon.
Hezbollah recruits were told to report to Libya for intelligence training, but the sources said some of the recruits were unable to enter the North African country.
These Palestinian terrorists were said to have been recruited by the Hezbollah network in Egypt in 2008. After their recruitment, Baraka and Hassan returned to the Gaza Strip and months later infiltrated Sinai before agreeing to participate in the suicide attack.
Egypt has determined the Hezbollah effort was directed and financed by Iran’s Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps. Officials said Tehran has deemed Hezbollah a vital asset in Iran’s strategy to destabilize pro-U.S. regimes in the Middle East.
“Iran’s relationship with Hezbollah has gone beyond the stage of solid ties to a close relationship that has resulted in long-term military cooperation in addition to security and intelligence cooperation,” Egyptian security analyst [Ret.] Maj. Gen. Sameh Saif al-Yazal said.
View this story in the Philadelphia Bulletin
View this story at Israel Behind the News
The Middle East Newsline has confirmed the Hezbollah network in Egypt planned to train its recruits in suicide bombing tactics in Sudan and in other countries in the Middle East.
Egyptian security sources report that Hezbollah operatives told interrogators the network worked to send scores of recruits for training in Lebanon, Libya, Sudan and Syria. Hezbollah had prepared training areas and instructors for these Egyptian recruits.
“The issue is much bigger than Hezbollah,” Egyptian Foreign Minister Ahmed Abu al-Gheit said. “It is an attempt to harm Egypt’s interests and twist its policy.”
So far, Egypt has identified at least 49 suspected members of the Hezbollah network. The sources said the network numbered 100 members, with about a quarter of them hiding in the Sinai Peninsula.
The Egyptian daily newspaper al-Masri al-Yom reported that two of the detainees detailed a Hezbollah plot to conduct a major terror attack in Tel Aviv.
Mohammed Ramadan Abdul Fatah Baraka and Nadal Hassan were identified as members of the Fatah movement who infiltrated Egypt from the Gaza Strip and settled in al-Arish, Egypt.
Hezbollah planned to send Baraka and Hassan to Sudan for training in suicide strikes. From Sudan, the sources said, the two Palestinians had been scheduled to fly to Syria and Lebanon.
Hezbollah recruits were told to report to Libya for intelligence training, but the sources said some of the recruits were unable to enter the North African country.
These Palestinian terrorists were said to have been recruited by the Hezbollah network in Egypt in 2008. After their recruitment, Baraka and Hassan returned to the Gaza Strip and months later infiltrated Sinai before agreeing to participate in the suicide attack.
Egypt has determined the Hezbollah effort was directed and financed by Iran’s Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps. Officials said Tehran has deemed Hezbollah a vital asset in Iran’s strategy to destabilize pro-U.S. regimes in the Middle East.
“Iran’s relationship with Hezbollah has gone beyond the stage of solid ties to a close relationship that has resulted in long-term military cooperation in addition to security and intelligence cooperation,” Egyptian security analyst [Ret.] Maj. Gen. Sameh Saif al-Yazal said.
View this story in the Philadelphia Bulletin
View this story at Israel Behind the News
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