ANKARA (UPI)–Turkey will freeze relations and halt billions of dollars in defense deals with Israel in the wake of Israel’s deadly raid on a Gaza-bound aid ship, the Turkish Today’s Zaman newspaper reported on Thursday.
Turkey is also preparing to issue sanctions against Israel as a step toward completely cutting off diplomatic relations, President Abdullah Gul said in a statement.
He earlier said the government in Ankara would “never forgive” Israel for the May 31 raid, which killed nine pro-Palestinian activists, including eight Turks and a Turkish-American teenager.
The attack in international waters drew intense protest and prompted Turkey to withdraw its ambassador.
Turkey was the first Muslim nation to recognize Israel, and Turkey is Israel’s most important Muslim ally.
The planned severing of ties, which would not affect private business, includes scrapping a $5 billion Turkish deal for Israeli-made battle tanks, $800 million for Israeli patrol jets and $707.5 million for F-4 and F-5 jet fighters, diplomatic officials told Today’s Zaman.
Turkey wants Israel to apologize for the raid, which Israel’s refuses to do. It also wants the seized ships returned and for Israel to agree to an international investigation into the raid.
Israeli commandos boarded the Mavi Marmara, a Turkish-owned ship leading a six-vessel convoy trying to reach Hamas-run Gaza. Israel says its soldiers were attacked by activists on board the ship before they opened fire in self-defense.
Israel’s cabinet Thursday said it would liberalize its 3-year-old restrictions on importing some internationally supervised civilian materials by land, but made no promise to lift its naval embargo.
Security checks would remain in place to prevent weapons from reaching Gaza, Israel said in a statement.
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The Turks are canceling a deal on F-4s?These planes are as out dated and obsoliete as it gets,avionics upgrades aside just about any fighter jet biult after 1980 would make very short work of a Phantom.They were good in thier day,about 40 years ago.When Turkey expeles Isreals’ ambasidor then we’ll know Erdies serious.
We still don’t know the truth. We don’t know if this incident has two actors (Israel or Turkey) or one. The most beneficial from this incident is Turkey. The conflic is between Shia (iran) and Sunni (turkey). Turkey became more popular than Iran, that’s why iran is trying to send its own flotilla. In another hand Turkey was very important for USA, specially during Soviet era. In the history of world enemies become friends, friends become enemies. Gul said that Ankara would never forgive the killings of 9 palestinian activists, and I wouls say that armenians would never forgive Turkey for Armenian Genocide…
Avedis` Mother. Russia will be too happy to give the turks anything they refuse to take from Israel.It will take some time to see if the west has created another monster like Iran they supported until it went 12 centuries back in its moslem `revolution` and then Iraq which the JewSA helped with billions of$$$ to fight Iran &then the talibans who also got billons of $$$to eventually bring down a couple of towers and now lets see how our turkish brothers&sisters shall repay their billions they got from the west in order to…..lets wait &see-soon we`ll find out.
You think theres a future terrorist attack on the US comming from Turkey? That would be like a comody of errors wouldn’t it?Hovo seems to think its a ruse,a conspiracy concocted by Isreal and Turkey,maybe but I don’t think so.I do know Hillarys going to have her hands full.I’ld bet real money on an 11th hour solution just in time to put HR 252 back in a drawer.
Another case of theatrics, God knows waht they are up to, don’t forget Jews are very caniving when it comes to internaional politics,maybe the whole thing was planned by other powers to stir some shorba in the region,what is the outcome,we shall wait and see,any way it is always for profit and pleasure boys and girls.
Turkey`s provocation is just a teaser to test the reactions of those concerned.The turks are just puppets in the game of the `superpowers`.One can only guess who are the real puppeteers-Obama,Russia,the Arabs ???
Love the heading which says “may” …..the Jews and Turks are playing us, the US and the whole world like a grand piano…….wake up people!!!!!!!