Erdoğan says decision to bar Israel was people's will

Erdoğan told al-Arabiya television that his government acted as a "spokesman for the conscience of the people" and that the Turkish people did not want Israel to participate in the exercise, the Anatolia news agency reported.

Israel has extensive defense ties with Turkey, a NATO member and one of the few Muslim nations to have built an alliance with the Jewish state.

Yet tension prevails in the ties between Israel and Turkey, particularly since Ankara's harsh criticism of Israel's three-week offensive in the Hamas-ruled Gaza Strip in December and January. Erdoğan reiterated in the al-Arabiya interview that Israel killed 1,500 people, mostly women and children, in Gaza and destroyed schools and hospitals.

Turkey and Israel both denied on Monday that the cancellation of air force exercises scheduled for this week posed any threat to their long-standing bilateral ties and strategic interests. The Turkish Foreign Ministry, in a statement on Monday, ruled out comments made by certain Israeli officials who suggested that political motives were behind changing the exercise, urging Israel to display “common sense” in their statements.

Meanwhile, Syria, a regional rival of Israel, has said it will hold military exercises with Turkey. “We held our first joint land military exercise [with Turkey] last spring. And today we have agreed to do a more comprehensive, bigger one,” Syrian Defense Minister Ali Habib, speaking at a news conference held in the border city of Gaziantep on Tuesday evening at which Syrian and Turkish ministers responded to questions following the first ministerial-level meeting of the High-Level Strategic Cooperation Council, recently established between the two neighbors.

Foreign Minister Ahmet Davutoğlu (R) and his Syrian counterpart, Walid Muallem, shake hands after signing an agreement at the border of the two countries on Tuesday.

In the Syrian border city of Aleppo, Syrian Foreign Minister Walid al-Moallem commended Ankara for canceling of the exercises, speaking at the same meeting as Habib.

“We warmly welcome the decision. This decision is based on Turkey's approach towards Israel and reflects the way Turkey regards the Israeli attack on Gaza,” Moallem told reporters in Aleppo, where the first part of the High-Level Strategic Cooperation Council meeting was held.

In Washington, the US State Department gently criticized Turkey on Tuesday over the exercise controversy, with Assistant Secretary of State for Public Affairs Philip J. Crowley telling reporters that “as to the question of whether there was a government that was invited to participate and then removed at the last minute, we think it's inappropriate for any nation to be removed from an exercise like this at the last minute.”

He was asked whether that was what happened and if Israel was the spurned country. He confirmed that it was correct. Also on Tuesday, in Israel, Deputy Prime Minister Silvan Shalom urged Turkey “to come to its senses” in comments over the issue. “Turkey is an important Muslim state sharing strategic ties with Israel. I hope the Turks come to their senses and realize that the relationship between the two states is in their interest no less than ours. The deterioration of ties with Turkey in recent days is regrettable,” he said.

Davutoğlu defies pressure by Israeli lobby

In Gaziantep, Davutoğlu was asked by a Syrian reporter whether he is worried about any probable counter-attacks by Israeli lobbies in the international arena following the recent uneasiness between the two countries.

“Turkey's foreign policy has always been based on principles. When there have been bad policies, as in the Gaza incidents, we have shown our position. Turkey has never interfered in any other country's internal affairs,” Davutoğlu said first of all, underlining that Turkey has consistently favored regional cooperation and stability.

“I'm telling this to you as the foreign minister of the Turkish Republic. There is nothing over which the Turkish Republic should feel worried. We are ready for dialogue with everybody on every issue,” he said.

The Syrian reporter's question was an apparent reference to remarks by Israeli defense officials cited by the Israeli daily The Jerusalem Post. In regards to the exercises dispute, those officials told the daily they would end Israeli support for Turkey in its efforts to stop the US Congress voting to declare the killings of Anatolian Armenians by the Ottoman Turks genocide.