Turkey raising naval presence amid tension with Israel

Reuters ^ | Sep 6, 2011 | Pinar Aydinli

[markomalley]

Turkey is freezing defense trade with Israel and stepping up naval patrols in the eastern Mediterranean, highlighting a potentially destabilizing rift between the two major U.S. allies in the Middle East.

Prime Minister Tayyip Erdogan's threat on Tuesday to send warships into waters where Israel's navy operates raises the risk of a naval confrontation between the two powers.

"The eastern Mediterranean is not a strange place to us. Aksaz and Iskenderun -- these places have the power and opportunity to provide escorts," Erdogan told reporters in Ankara, referring to two Turkish naval bases. "Of course our ships will be seen much more frequently in those waters."

Ties with Israel began to unravel after Erdogan voiced outrage at an Israeli offensive against the Gaza Strip, ruled by the Palestinian Islamist Hamas group, in late 2008 and early 2009.

Before that Turkey and Israel had worked closely together on military cooperation and intelligence sharing, as both had sought reliable partners in a volatile neighborhood.

[ken21]

Biblical.

[americanophile]

Meanwhile, the spoiled brats of the welfare state protest in the streets for ‘social justice’ and ‘revolution.’

[GeronL]

The whole world against tiny Israel. Pathetic.

[OB1kNOb]

Yep. We are living in Biblically history-making times.

[ClearCase_guy]

Yup. SecDef Gates is being very openly anti-Israel. It's all lining up. Israel surrounded by enemies, with no one standing beside her.

Keep your lamps trimmed and burning.

[Truth29]

Israeli military and intelligence aid to the Kurds. Assistance to the Greek Cypriots. It shouldn't be a free shot for Turkey to cause problems for Israel.

[GonzoGOP]

16 modern frigates and another half dozen corvettes and 14 relatively (half date from the 80's) modern diesel subs. The rest of the fleet is obsolete. On paper a good force, but their training is suspect.

They operate with NATO, but aren't considered the best NATO has to offer at sea. On land very nasty, but at sea Israel could give them a run for their money despite the Israeli Navy's much smaller size. And if they came within rage of the IAF it would be all over in an hour.

[SmithL]

In the first Gulf War, Israel allowed Scuds to fly into their country in order for the US to keep their fragile coalition together.

In the second Gulf War, US planes were prohibited from flying through Turkish airspace, lengthening the ground war and putting US troops at risk.

So who is Barry Hussein kissing up to, now?

[flatfish]

Turkey a major ally to the U.S.? What a load of horse puckey. Who in the hell comes up with this crap.

.

[Zeppo]

You would think that Obama could talk to Erdogan, on a Muslim-supremacist to Muslim basis, to get him to cool his jets and reduce rather than inflame tensions in the area...

[SJackson]

Middle East and terrorism, occasional political and Jewish issues Ping List. High Volume

If you’d like to be on or off, please FR mail me.

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I'm sure this will end well.