The official, who wanted to remain anonymous, stated that Israel has failed yet again to deliver the Israeli-made surveillance drones, known as Herons, to Turkey. “Turkey needs those vehicles in its fight against terror. What led to the recent crisis between Turkey and Israel was the delay in the delivery,” he noted.
The Anatolian Eagle exercise has been held every few years since 2001 to boost international aerial cooperation. The exercises, which are open to international participants, are held in different stages at three different times of the year. The last-minute cancelation spurred the Israeli side to claim that Turkey wanted to exclude its air force from taking part in the drill.
Israeli media reports quoted Israeli defense officials as saying that the exercises in Turkey had been scrapped over Turkish opposition to Israel, particularly due to its devastating offensive into the Gaza Strip in December 2008 and January 2009.
Ankara, however, denied the claims and said it would be wrong to derive a political meaning or conclusion from the postponing of the international part of the exercise.
Turkey agreed four years ago to buy 10 Heron UAVs for over $180 million from Israeli Aerospace Industries (IAI) and Elbit Systems, Ltd.
However, the Israeli firms have missed the deadline for delivery. Israeli media reports claimed that Turkey was considering terminating its contract with Israel, but Defense Minister Vecdi Gönül said in May that Turkey would not break the contract. The Israeli company later announced that it would deliver four Herons in August, followed by another two and then the last four by the end of October.
“As Israeli authorities failed to satisfactorily convince Turkey that they would be able to achieve the planned date for delivery of the Herons, the Air Forces Command informed the General Staff of the situation. Chief of General Staff Gen. İlker Başbuğ shared his concerns with Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdoğan during a security meeting in late September. The prime minister assured Başbuğ that the government would back any military sanction on Israel. The General Staff asked Israeli authorities one last time about the delivery of the Herons. Israeli authorities refused to give an exact date and said they planned to deliver the vehicles by the end of 2009, whereupon the General Staff decided to cancel the international part of the exercises,” remarked the air forces official.
What was problematic about the delivery of Herons was, according to Israeli engineers, the difficulty in the strengthening of Heron engines to enable local Aselsan-made electro-optical payloads (Aselfir300T) to be fitted on the Heron UAVs. The Aselsan payload weighed more, which necessitated the strengthening of the Heron UAV engines.
Under the contract, Israel assumed the responsibility of integrating Aselsan payloads on the Heron UAVs in order to enable it to reach 30,000 feet with an endurance of 52 hours.
Two UAVs out of 10, which arrived in Turkey last year in November with an almost two-year delay, have not yet been accepted by the Turkish military due to persistent problems occurring in strengthening the engines to enable the Aselsan payloads to be fitted on the UAVs.
In the meantime, government spokesperson and Deputy Prime Minister Cemil Çiçek stated that a proposal for the cancellation of the Anatolian Eagle exercise came from the General Staff. “The proposal for cancelation came from the General Staff, not the government. However, there was no disagreement between the two bodies on the decision,” Çiçek noted.
According to the government spokesperson, the decision for cancelation was a technical issue. “The Anatolian Eagle is an organization of the Turkish Armed Forces [TSK.] It is up to the air forces and the General Staff to decide on which countries will participate in the exercises. The government has not interfered in the decision,” Çiçek added.
The Turkish-Israeli crisis reached its peak on Jan. 29 after Turkish Prime Minister Erdoğan walked out of a panel discussion in Davos in protest of an Israeli attack on Gaza.
During a session on Gaza at the World Economic Forum (WEF) in Davos, Erdoğan walked off the stage when a moderator, Washington Post columnist David Ignatius, cut off his remarks in response to an impassioned monologue by Israeli President Shimon Peres, who strongly defended Israel's offensive against Gaza, which claimed the lives of hundreds of innocent civilians and injured thousands of others.
Turkish Foreign Minister Ahmet Davutoğlu also commented on the recent drill crisis and called on every country to refrain from any act that could harm the atmosphere of peace and stability in the region.
"Our ministry has made a statement on the issue. We would expect everyone to act with common sense and in a manner to avoid any act that could harm the atmosphere of peace and stability in our region," the minister told reporters yesterday.
Benzer Haberler 
Diplomacy
