Turkey-Israel-US Naval Exercises PostponedJoint Turkish-Israeli-US naval maneuvers, originally planned to take place in December, have been postponed indefinitely, Turkey's Anatolia News Agency reported on Friday.The military exercises, code-named Reliant Mermaid, were conducted twice in the recent years with the aim of coordinating search and rescue operations in the Eastern Mediterranean. The decision to postpone the third exercises came amid mounting tensions between the Palestinians and Israelis as a result of the six-week bloody clashes, that have claimed the lives of more than 190 Palestinians. Israeli diplomatic sources in Ankara have confirmed that the military exercises have been postponed indefinitely because of what they called "technical reasons," the news agency said. However, it is believed that the decision has been taken largely due to political consideration. Turkey, which has voiced concern over the escalation of tensions in the Middle East, would rather not leave an impression of Turko-Israeli collusion by going ahead with the exercises. To distance itself from Israel, Ankara has recently also cancelled a previously-arranged visit to Turkey by Israeli Chief of General Staff Shaul Mofaz. The postponement was also made public one day before Turkish President Ahmet Necdet Sezer's departure for the summit of the 56-nation Organization of the Islamic Conference, which will open in the Qatari capital of Doha on Sunday and largely center on the situation in the Palestinian territories. |
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