Criticism on Military Partnership between Turkey and Israel

After the Israeli storm on aid ships bound to Gaza on 31 May, Turkish rights organizations demand to lift bilateral military agreements between Israel and Turkey.

bianet talked to Yıldız Önen form the Global Peace and Justice Coalition (Küresel BAK). Önen declared the organization's demand to end the military agreements between Turkey and Israel.

"Israel and Turkey are connected by armament mechanisms. We are purchasing a part of our weapons from Israel and in return we allow Israel's existence as a pirate state in the Middle East. Besides the agreement, Turkey educates Israeli military personnel at the Konya Air Base. [...] Israel is using Turkish air space. We do not think that Israel informs Turkey about what they are doing".

"We expect concrete steps"

"The latest attack demonstrated what kind of force Israel has become in the Middle East; it was also revealed when civilians were killed in Gaza last year", Önen argued.

"If Turkey wants peace in the Middle East, they have to implement clear politics against Israel since this cannot be achieved by oral statements only. All kinds of military and economic agreements must be cancelled form one side. A cancellation of the agreements would be an investment on the Israeli state. In that case, we would have a chance to prevent the cruelty imposed on the Palestinian people by Israel. If the legitimization of the Israeli government is being removed by the attacks, the government has to take according steps".

Önen furthermore reminded the fact that the budget of the Turkish Armed Forces has not been publicly declared. "There are concealed payments of the Turkish army. It is not clear how much money is paid to whom. We have demanded for years to make the army's budget more transparent and to disclose the accounts. The army expenditures should be clearly revealed", Önen requested.

Agreements on military equipment worth millions of dollars

The defence industry is the most important field of co-operation between Turkey and Israel. This co-operation is based on the "Defence Co-operation Agreement" signed in 1994 by the Welfare Party coalition government lead by Tansu Çiler.

While the details of the agreement have not been declared, the following facts and figures were announced in recent years:

* Turkey used to hire two Unmanned Military Planes (Heron) from Israel for $ 15 million. In 2008, Turkey accepted the tender of the Israeli national defence company IMI (Israel Aerospace Industries) and purchased 10 Heron planes for $ 183 million. The planes were delivered to Turkey last year and used for operations beyond the Iraqi border.

* Turkey has an agreement with Israel worth more than $ 1 billion for the modernization of 54 F-4 war planes. Another $ 650 million agreement was signed for the modernization of 170 M-60 tanks carried out by Israel.

* Turkey accepted Israel's tender worth $ 160 million for Synthetic-Aperture Radar systems (SAR).

* Israel got the acceptance for a $ 120 million bid regarding the Datalink 16 project, a system transmitting pictures of F-4 and F-16 fighters.

* The Turkish BMC company got accepted for the tender of the "Walking Fortress" land vehicles for protection against land mines.

* Turkey educates Israeli war pilots at the Konya Air Base.

* A $ 167 million agreement was signed between both countries on the field of military intelligence.

Trade worth 2.5 billion dollar

According to an announcement made by State Minister Zafer Çağlayan on Tuesday (1 June), the volume of export to Israel amounts to $ 1.5 billion, import is worth $ 1 million. (SP/TK/VK)