Around the World: Israel

No joint drill with Turkey

Turkey has canceled an annual joint air force drill that was to have taken place this week because it opposed Israeli participation, the Israeli military said yesterday, in the latest sign of deteriorating relations between the two countries.

Turkey, a secular country ruled by an Islamic-oriented party, had long been Israel's best friend in the Muslim world, but ties have cooled sharply over Turkish Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan's sharp criticism of Israel's winter war in the Gaza Strip.

A statement posted on the Turkish military's website said the annual Anatolia Eagle drill would take place between October 10-23, but that international participation had been canceled following "international negotiations conducted by the Turkish Foreign Ministry".

(China Daily 10/12/2009 page8)