Israel Foreign Relations Turkey

Suggesting a new strategic alliance in the Middle East, the Israeli and Turkish navies, accompanied by a U.S. destroyer, carried out their first joint military maneuvers Wednesday, with a Jordanian admiral observing the search-and-rescue drill. All four nations rejected Iranian and Arab charges that the exercise with five warships and more than 1,000 sailors in the eastern Mediterranean was aggressive, saying it was strictly humanitarian and had no military objective.

U.S., Israeli and Turkish fighter jets staged mock dogfights over central Turkey on Monday as part of what Israeli officials call the most important military exercises ever held by the three countries. The maneuvers, called Anatolian Eagle, are being conducted over the central province of Konya, an Islamic stronghold. They are expected to continue until June 29.

Israel has asked influential American Jewish organizations to lobby against a Senate resolution to proclaim a national day of remembrance for victims of the Armenian genocide early this century, Jewish sources said. "As a people which was itself a victim of genocide, we feel natural sympathy for the Armenians," one source said. "But Israel wants to foster its relations with Turkey, which it views with great importance." The massacres of 1915-23, in which an estimated 1.

Israeli security guards opened fire Wednesday on club-wielding Kurds who had stormed the Israeli Consulate here, killing three protesters, wounding 15 and provoking fears of escalating violence among the despairing, stateless people.

Demonstrators shouting anti-Semitic slogans attacked an Israeli airline office Thursday as Israel's president was visiting a historic synagogue, police said. There were no injuries, and two demonstrators were arrested, police said. Nearly 100 demonstrators shouting "Down with Israel!" and "Jew go home!" hurled rocks and shattered the windows of the El Al airline office in mid-town Istanbul, state radio said.

An Israeli diplomat was killed and three other people were wounded Saturday by a car bomb blast, police said. Israel confirmed the death and denounced the attack. The previously unknown Islamic Revenge Organization claimed responsibility for the attack in telephone calls to newspapers immediately afterward, the Anatolia news agency reported. "We have responded to the Israelis," the anonymous caller was quoted as saying. It was the second attack against Jews in Turkey in a week.

U.S., Israeli and Turkish fighter jets staged mock dogfights over central Turkey on Monday as part of what Israeli officials call the most important military exercises ever held by the three countries. The maneuvers, called Anatolian Eagle, are being conducted over the central province of Konya, an Islamic stronghold. They are expected to continue until June 29.

Israeli tourists are expected to flood Turkey, the only Muslim country that encourages tourism from the Jewish state, in record numbers next month. Will Israel's good relations with Turkey survive the stampede?

Israeli fighter pilots can soon escape the narrow confines of the Jewish state to train over the broad plains and rugged mountains of Turkey, under a trend-setting, new military cooperation agreement that has upset Muslim strategists from Cairo to Tehran. Egyptians say it could upset the Middle East peace process and shift the balance of power in the region. Iranians say it is part of a Zionist plot.

Israeli security guards opened fire Wednesday on club-wielding Kurds who had stormed the Israeli Consulate here, killing three protesters, wounding 15 and provoking fears of escalating violence among the despairing, stateless people.

Suggesting a new strategic alliance in the Middle East, the Israeli and Turkish navies, accompanied by a U.S. destroyer, carried out their first joint military maneuvers Wednesday, with a Jordanian admiral observing the search-and-rescue drill. All four nations rejected Iranian and Arab charges that the exercise with five warships and more than 1,000 sailors in the eastern Mediterranean was aggressive, saying it was strictly humanitarian and had no military objective.

After being ruled over for centuries by the Ottoman Empire, the Arab countries of the Middle East have long been leery of Turkey. Lately, they are perceiving a new Turkish threat--and their fears are leading to shifts in regional alliances and a closing of Arab ranks. Arabs have been alarmed by a series of Turkish-Israeli military cooperation agreements over the past year, culminating in Israeli use of Turkish airspace and joint naval maneuvers this week off the Syrian coast.

Israeli fighter pilots can soon escape the narrow confines of the Jewish state to train over the broad plains and rugged mountains of Turkey, under a trend-setting, new military cooperation agreement that has upset Muslim strategists from Cairo to Tehran. Egyptians say it could upset the Middle East peace process and shift the balance of power in the region. Iranians say it is part of a Zionist plot.

Israeli tourists are expected to flood Turkey, the only Muslim country that encourages tourism from the Jewish state, in record numbers next month. Will Israel's good relations with Turkey survive the stampede?

Demonstrators shouting anti-Semitic slogans attacked an Israeli airline office Thursday as Israel's president was visiting a historic synagogue, police said. There were no injuries, and two demonstrators were arrested, police said. Nearly 100 demonstrators shouting "Down with Israel!" and "Jew go home!" hurled rocks and shattered the windows of the El Al airline office in mid-town Istanbul, state radio said.

An Israeli diplomat was killed and three other people were wounded Saturday by a car bomb blast, police said. Israel confirmed the death and denounced the attack. The previously unknown Islamic Revenge Organization claimed responsibility for the attack in telephone calls to newspapers immediately afterward, the Anatolia news agency reported. "We have responded to the Israelis," the anonymous caller was quoted as saying. It was the second attack against Jews in Turkey in a week.

After being ruled over for centuries by the Ottoman Empire, the Arab countries of the Middle East have long been leery of Turkey. Lately, they are perceiving a new Turkish threat--and their fears are leading to shifts in regional alliances and a closing of Arab ranks. Arabs have been alarmed by a series of Turkish-Israeli military cooperation agreements over the past year, culminating in Israeli use of Turkish airspace and joint naval maneuvers this week off the Syrian coast.

Israel has asked influential American Jewish organizations to lobby against a Senate resolution to proclaim a national day of remembrance for victims of the Armenian genocide early this century, Jewish sources said. "As a people which was itself a victim of genocide, we feel natural sympathy for the Armenians," one source said. "But Israel wants to foster its relations with Turkey, which it views with great importance." The massacres of 1915-23, in which an estimated 1.