“Israeli” War Minister Benny Gantz Heads to Turkey, Days Before Election

By Staff, Agencies

“Israeli” War Minister Benny Gantz will visit Turkey next week, the first visit by an Israeli defense minister in a decade.

Gantz will meet with his counterpart Turkish Defense Minister Hulusi Akar and will be welcomed by an honor guard in Ankara.

The visit, just days before election in the “Israeli” entity, comes after a visit to Azerbaijan, a close ally of Turkey. Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan visited Azerbaijan on Thursday where he met his counterpart Ilham Aliyev. Both Tel Aviv and Ankara sold Baku weapons used in its recent conflict against Armenia.

The entity and Turkey fully resumed ties after a decade-long in August, including reinstating ambassadors and consuls-general.

Following the announcement, “Israeli” Prime Minister Yair Lapid said that “renewing relations with Turkey is an important asset for regional stability and important economic news for the ‘citizens’ of ‘Israel’.”

The rapprochement comes after a deterioration in ties that began in 2008, with “Operation Cast Lead”, and reached their nadir in the wake of the 2010 Mavi Marmara raid by “Israeli” commandos on a Gaza-bound ship trying to break the naval blockade of the enclave.  Ten pro-Palestinian Turks who were part of Turkey’s Humanitarian Relief Foundation [IHH] were killed after they attacked the commandos.

Following the raid, Ankara broke off relations with Tel Aviv.

After the breakdown of ties, Turkey also exerted efforts to isolate Tel Aviv from military cooperation with NATO.

Following a 2016 reconciliation deal, Ankara withdrew its longstanding veto against Tel Aviv being accepted as a partner nation to the organization [not a member].

Ankara and Tel Aviv had for years been close allies in the defense industry, security cooperation, intelligence sharing and military training.

In addition, Turkey used to be one of the entity’s primary arms customers with “Israeli” firms upgrading Turkish M60 tanks and F-4E planes as well as supplying Turkey with armed Heron drones, electronic reconnaissance and surveillance systems as well as advanced missile systems and smart ammunition.

The “Israeli” entity and Turkey also used to participate in annual joint navy and air force drills but following the downgrading of ties Tel Aviv turned instead to Turkey’s adversary, Greece and the Greek Cypriots instead for military exercises of air, sea, and ground forces.