17 October 2009 / ,
Following the recent slump in Jerusalem-Ankara relations caused by last week's cancellation of a joint military drill and Tuesday's airing of an anti-Israeli drama on a government-controlled TV channel, Turkish Deputy Prime Minister Bülent Arınç downplayed the apparent tensions.
"Relations between Israel and Turkey have always been strong, and we're entirely sure that they will remain strong," Arınç told local reporters on Friday." Referring to the TV drama Ayrılık -- which variously depicted IDF soldiers shooting a fleeing Palestinian boy in the back, killing a sweetly smiling Palestinian girl at point-blank range and lining up Palestinian detainees before an IDF firing squad –- Arınç said that "there are no political motives to the television drama that annoyed Israel."