US will not take part in Turkey's October military drills
Wednesday, September 1, 2010
FULYA ÖZERKAN
ANKARA - Hürriyet Daily News
The US routinely participates in two military exercises hosted by the Turkish air force each year and this year it has already done so, says an embassy spokesperson when asked about claims that U.S. non-participation in a third session was linked to Israel's exclusion. 'We were part of the planning conferences for Anatolian Eagle 10/3. However, there were no other international participants and because our aircraft were assigned for other missions, we will not be able to participate in the exercise,' says the spokesperson
The United States will not be participating in the "Anatolian Eagle" exercise hosted by the Turkish Air Forces from Oct. 11-22 because the drills will be conducted at the national level, an embassy spokesperson said Wednesday.
"We were part of the planning conferences for Anatolian Eagle 10/3. However, there were no other international participants and because our aircraft were assigned for other missions, we will not be able to participate in the exercise," the spokesperson told the Hürriyet Daily News.
Some news reports in the Turkish press claimed that the United States told Turkey it would not attend the exercise if Israel were not invited, citing Turkish military officials who expressed concerns that other international participants would hesitate to join the drills if Washington withdrew.
The Turkish Foreign Ministry, however, denied the claims, saying they did not reflect the truth of the matter. "We were not informed of such a development by the United States," a senior diplomat told the Daily News.
The multinational NATO "Anatolian Eagle" exercise is hosted by the Turkish Air Forces and is aimed at boosting aerial cooperation and training air forces of other participatory countries. The exercises have been performed since the first Anatolian Eagle, or AE-01, in June 2001. Two of the three planned Anatolian Eagle exercises for 2010 took place in April and June. The remaining one, Anatolian Eagle 10/3, will run from Oct. 11 to 22.
"The United States historically participates in two international exercises in Turkey each year. This year we have already done the two," said the U.S. embassy spokesperson.
The United States sent aircraft to Turkey for Anatolian Falcon 2010/02 exercise in central Anatolia and participated in the Anatolian Eagle 10/2 exercise. Both took place in June.
"We were also part of the planning conferences for Anatolian Eagle 10/3 in October," said the spokesperson, clarifying the reason for the U.S.' non-participation in the October drills were the lack of international participants and U.S. aircrafts' other missions.
No invitation to Israel
It was, however, not immediately clear if the Anatolian Eagle exercise in the fall will be multinational. Turkish officials told the Daily News that no invitation has been extended to Israel.
"We have a clear stance regarding our relations with Israel. Our expectations continue," said an official, referring to Turkey's earlier demands for an apology and compensation from Israel after its deadly raid on a Gaza-bound flotilla.
The government decided to freeze all military exercises with Israel in response to the killing of nine people by Israeli commandos in May. Last year, Ankara excluded Tel Aviv from the same exercise, which prompted other NATO countries the U.S. and Italy to withdraw from the drills. Turkey had to conduct the exercise on a national instead of an international level.
As last year's event occurred before the Mavi Marmara crisis, the government's opposition to the Israeli participation in the 2009 exercise was linked to its Gaza offensive and came as a result of government pressure on the military to postpone the drills.
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