Turkey's Chief of Staff Gen. Ilker Basbug speaks during a media briefing in Ankara, Wednesday.
Turkish military chief Gen. Ilker Basbug said Wednesday that he is not concerned about Israel's reaction to a joint drill involving Turkish and Syrian soldiers.Responding to news of the joint exercise, Defense Minister Ehud Barak said on Monday that it was "definitely a disturbing development. But I believe that the strategic relationship between Israel and Turkey will overcome Turkey's necessity to participate in this drill as well."
Dr. Mordechai Kedar, an expert on Arab political discourse at BESA. , who served for 25 years in IDF Military Intelligence, added that the exercise came about due to a convergence of Turkish and Syrian interests. "Turkey appears as a regional power, and Syria is willing to play this game to give Turkey that recognition, because it wants to prove that it is Turkey's friend," Kedar said.
Basbug told reporters Wednesday he was "not concerned by Israel's reaction," and Turkey was not seeking any other country's consent.
The drill, the first-ever between Turkey and Syria, ends Wednesday and marks improvement in once strained ties between both countries. Source: JPOST
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