The Turkish government excluded Israel from participating in a planned NATO military exercise. Why? Guess is because of the criticism that Turkey gave to Israel for the Gaza offensive about a year ago. Turkish Foreign Minister Ahmet Davutoglu said, "We hope that the situation in Gaza will be improved, that the situation will be back to the diplomatic track. And that will create a new atmosphere in Turkish-Israeli relations as well. But in the existing situation, of course, we are criticizing this approach, [the] Israeli approach." Although the countries always were allies in the Middle East and enjoyed close military and economic relations for more than a decade, tensions started after Turkey gave Israel great grieve over the Gaza situation in December and January. After finding out that Israel was given the boot, both the United States and Italy decided not to participate in the exercise but hope it is post-poned instead of cancelled.
By: Ivana Miljic
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