U.S. to Shun Military Drills in Turkey

Thu, 02 Sep 2010 21:06:42 EST

U.S. to Shun Military Drills in Turkey
AGENCE FRANCE-PRESSE
Published: 1 Sep 2010 14:20

ANKARA - The United States will not take part in upcoming air drills in
Turkey, a U.S. embassy official said Sept. 1, as media reports said
Washington had conditioned its presence on Israeli attendance.

The U.S. Air Force will not join the October exercises, the official told
AFP, saying they had already taken part in the previous edition of the
drills in June.

The official would not comment on Turkish media reports that Washington had
said it would shun the drills if Ankara failed to invite also Israel,
excluded from the exercises amid bilateral tensions with Turkey, once a
close ally.

The U.S. message was conveyed to Ankara after invitations were sent out to
several countries but not Israel for the "Anatolian Eagle" drills, held
since 2001 in central Turkey, unnamed sources told the Hurriyet newspaper.

The Turkish army's press office would not comment on the issue.

Last year, Turkey for the first time excluded Israel from the exercises amid
tensions over the Jewish state's devastating offensive on the Gaza Strip.

Turkey eventually cancelled the international section of the drills without
explanation after the United States reportedly pulled out.

Since then, Turkish-Israeli ties have hit a new low, raising concern in
Washington, after Israeli forces killed nine Turks on May 31 in an operation
to stop an aid flotilla that aimed to break Gaza's blockade.

Ankara recalled its ambassador from Tel Aviv and scrapped joint wargames.

The United States was also irked by Turkey's "no" vote to fresh sanctions
against Iran, adopted by the UN Security Council in June over the Islamic
republic's nuclear program.

Last week, senior Turkish diplomats travelled to Washington in a bid to
dispel fears that the Islamist-rooted government is taking NATO's sole
mainly Muslim member away from the West.

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U.S. to Shun Military Drills in Turkey