youngindian
New Member
- Joined
- May 6, 2009
- Messages
- 1,365
- Likes
- 77
![India Country flag](https://defenceforumindia.com/misc/flags/shiny/32/India.png)
Published: 14 Jun 2010 16:36
ANKARA - The six Israeli-made Heron UAVs stationed at an air base near Turkey's Iraqi and Iranian borders have ceased flying since Israeli operators left the base amid Turkish-Israeli tensions.
The state-run Anatolia News Agency quoted Defense Minister Vecdi Gonul as telling a conference in the eastern town of Erzurum that Turkish personnel would soon take over the task of operating the Herons, which are positioned at the base to aid the military's fight against Kurdish separatists."I don't think there would be any disruptions," Gonul said. "Our personnel were trained in Israel and worked there. After the aircraft arrived, they worked [operating the UAVs] in Turkey, too."
But one military official said that the drones currently were not operational.
"We don't know exactly how soon they would become so," he said. He did not give any further details.
Turkey and Israel are facing their worst political crisis since they formed their strategic partnership in the mid-1990s. The crisis erupted May 31 when Israeli commandos raided a Turkish-led aid flotilla bound for the Palestinian Gaza Strip, killing nine Turks on board one of the ships. Turkey recalled its ambassador to Israel and sought a U.N. Security Council presidential statement that criticized the attack. Ankara also wants compensation and a full independent probe into the incident, which Israel has so far rejected.
Under a $188 million, 2005 deal with Israeli companies Israel Aerospace Industries and Elbit, Turkey received the six Herons in April, and another four are scheduled to be delivered in July. The program was delayed by more than two years.
http://www.defensenews.com/story.php?i=4669640&c=EUR&s=TOP
ANKARA - The six Israeli-made Heron UAVs stationed at an air base near Turkey's Iraqi and Iranian borders have ceased flying since Israeli operators left the base amid Turkish-Israeli tensions.
The state-run Anatolia News Agency quoted Defense Minister Vecdi Gonul as telling a conference in the eastern town of Erzurum that Turkish personnel would soon take over the task of operating the Herons, which are positioned at the base to aid the military's fight against Kurdish separatists."I don't think there would be any disruptions," Gonul said. "Our personnel were trained in Israel and worked there. After the aircraft arrived, they worked [operating the UAVs] in Turkey, too."
But one military official said that the drones currently were not operational.
"We don't know exactly how soon they would become so," he said. He did not give any further details.
Turkey and Israel are facing their worst political crisis since they formed their strategic partnership in the mid-1990s. The crisis erupted May 31 when Israeli commandos raided a Turkish-led aid flotilla bound for the Palestinian Gaza Strip, killing nine Turks on board one of the ships. Turkey recalled its ambassador to Israel and sought a U.N. Security Council presidential statement that criticized the attack. Ankara also wants compensation and a full independent probe into the incident, which Israel has so far rejected.
Under a $188 million, 2005 deal with Israeli companies Israel Aerospace Industries and Elbit, Turkey received the six Herons in April, and another four are scheduled to be delivered in July. The program was delayed by more than two years.
http://www.defensenews.com/story.php?i=4669640&c=EUR&s=TOP