Looks like the special Turkey/Israeli relationship is over.
Report:Turkey cancels military deals with Israel
Joseph Nasr May. 15, 2004 - JPost
The Turkish government has cancelled its military contracts signed with Israeli arms manufacturing companies "in protest of Israel's continuous aggression against the Palestinians", the Lebanese daily al-Mustaqbal reported Saturday.
Turkish Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan, Army Gen. Hilmi Ozkok, chief of the Turkish General Staff, and Defense Minister Vecdi Gonul, took the decision following a meeting with members of the Turkish Association for Military Industries, the newspaper reported.
Al-Mustaqbal quoted anonymous Turkish officials saying that the decision also includes the cancellation of multibillion-dollar arms contracts with the United States and that Turkey will instead rely on European military contractors for upgrading its military arsenal, notably French, British and German firms.
The Turkish government is interested in contracting European arms manufacturers in a bidding deal that will both alleviate Turkey's heavy spending on maintaining its army and boost it trade relations with the European Union which it eagerly wants to join.
The decision comes in the framework of PM Erdogan's "Justice and Prosperity" government's reshaped policy towards Israel with which it seeks to reduce strategic and military cooperation in protest of Israel's policy towards the Palestinians, wrote al-Mustaqbal.
Sources in Ankara told al-Mustaqbal that Turkey's hostile attitude to Israel was marked by PM Erdogan's refusal to welcome Prime Minister Ariel Sharon at Ankara International Airport on his last visit to Turkey, and his rejection of a visit request by Labor, Trade and Industry Minister Ehud Olmert.
In addition to its Euro hopes Turkey is trying to improve its chances of joining the Arab League as an observer, al-Mustaqbal reported.
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