Word: turkishly
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...countries have sparred before, but Turkish criticism of Israel has grown more forceful since Erdogan's Islamic-rooted Justice and Development Party (AKP) came to power in 2002. For decades Turkey was obsessed with Europe (despite a lukewarm reception) and all too keen to comply with the official NATO line, but in recent years it has started to look east, cultivating a role as a regional superpower. From Syria to Iran, the government has aggressively pursued closer ties with its neighbors. Amid the latest spat with Israel, Turkey signed a historic peace accord with its age-old foe Armenia...
What sets the war-games snub apart from other recent disputes is that for the first time, military relations between the two countries have taken a hit. This is a result of the Turkish government's having increased its control over the country's powerful generals in a bitter - and ongoing - seven-year power struggle. "Until very recently, it was the upper echelons of the Turkish military who determined the scope and pace of the strategic relationship between Israel and Turkey," Ayturk says. "What we are witnessing is the chief of staff allowing, willy-nilly, Erdogan to take the initiative...
...unlikely alliance between Turkey and Israel often stood out. Seemingly impervious to Arab opposition and the tracts of disputed land lying between them, the two countries had over the past decade traded intelligence, struck billion-dollar arms deals and hosted each other's militaries for training sessions. Even when Turkish leaders occasionally railed against Israel's policies toward the Palestinians, military cooperation continued unhindered behind the scenes, anchored by Washington across the Atlantic...
...relationship has officially soured. On Oct. 9, Turkey decided to exclude Israel's air force from participating in a routine NATO war-games exercise, code-named Anatolian Eagle, to be held just days later in the Turkish city of Konya. War games involving multiple countries take months to organize, and the last-minute decision was clearly unexpected. The U.S. and Italy pulled out shortly after they heard about the snub, with Washington calling the move by Ankara "inappropriate." Turkey's reason for barring Israel? Foreign Minister Ahmet Davutoglu said his country "was showing its sensitivity." "We hope that the situation...
...friction is the latest in a relationship that has been worsening since last December, when Turkey - predominantly Muslim but officially secular - condemned Israel's incursion into the Gaza Strip that left 1,500 Palestinians dead. In January, Turkish Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan stormed out of a debate with Israeli President Shimon Peres at a conference in Davos, Switzerland. Wagging his finger at Peres, an emotional Erdogan accused him of "murdering children on beaches" - an outburst that made Erdogan a hero on streets across the Arab world. "If bilateral relations between Turkey and Israel touched bottom after that incident...