<%@LANGUAGE="VBSCRIPT" CODEPAGE="1252"%> WorldTribune.com: Mobile Ñ Israel alarmed as Syria and Turkey conduct their first-ever military exercise

Israel alarmed as Syria and Turkey conduct their first-ever military exercise

Monday, April 27, 2009   E-Mail this story   Free Headline Alerts

ANKARA Ñ Turkey said it began a military exercise with Syria on April 27.

The General Staff said the first such exercise involved the ground forces of both countries along their mutual border.

"The land forces of Turkey and Syria would perform a joint military exercise across the border on Monday," the General Staff on April 26.

The General Staff said the exercise with Syria marked a watershed in relations between the two longtime rivals. They said the exercise would last three days and was meant to achieve interoperability.

"The exercise aims to boost friendship, cooperation and confidence between Turkish and Syrian land forces, and to increase the capability of border troops to train and work together," the statement said.

The Syrian-Turkish exercise has alarmed Israel, which pursued nearly 15 years of strategic cooperation with Ankara. Israeli Defense Minister Ehud Barak, however, said he did not think the Turkish exercise with Syria would harm Ankara's military relations with the Jewish state.

"Today a Syrian-Turkish military maneuver is taking place, definitely a disturbing development," Barak said on April 27. "But I believe that the strategic relationship between Israel and Turkey will overcome Turkey's necessity to participate in this drill as well." Officials said the military exercise was meant to enhance efforts to secure the Syrian-Turkish border. They said the exercise between the U.S.-equipped Turkish Army and the Russian-equipped Syrian Army would be limited to basic maneuvers and communications.

In 2002, Syria and Turkey signed a military cooperation agreement that envisioned exercises and joint training. But officials said the accord had been limited to exchange of visits by military commanders.

This marked the first military exercise between Syria and a NATO ally. Officials said Syria, led by Turkish Chief of Staff Gen. Hassan Turkmani, was also participating in the IDEF-2009 defense exhibition in Istanbul. On April 26, Turkmani began a five-day visit to Turkey, scheduled to include a meeting with Turkish Defense Minister Vecdi Gonul.

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