"Three joint military exercises scheduled with Israel were canceled,"
Erdogan said. "Turkey’s hostility is as strong as its friendship is
valuable."
But officials said the Heron program marked a military priority and
would not be affected. They said five out of the six Herons were being
deployed on a nearly daily basis.
"Nobody should expect us to declare war on Israel because of this
incident," Turkish Deputy Prime Minister Bulent Arinc said.
Officials said the Turkish Defense Ministry would not block the delivery
of Israeli UAVs to Ankara's military. They said Turkey has already paid most
of the $190 million for the procurement of 10 Heron UAVs from the
state-owned Israel Aerospace Industries.
"We expect the remaining Herons to be delivered in June or July [2010],"
Turkish Defense Minister Vecdi Gonul said.
Gonul said IAI has already delivered six Heron medium-altitude,
long-endurance UAVs for the Turkish military. He said the Herons, with an
endurance of up to 50 hours, have been deemed operational.
The Heron project, awarded to IAI and Elbit Systems in 2005, has
undergone more than two years of delays amid interoperability difficulties
with a reconnaissance payload developed by Turkey's military-owned Aselsan.
Officials said IAI solved the problem by ordering a larger engine to
accommodate the Aselsan payload.
Gonul's statement on June 1 came in wake of Islamist pressure on the
Turkish government to end all cooperation with Israel.
Heron has been deployed in Turkish military operations against the
Kurdish Workers Party in neighboring Iraq. Officials said at least two Heron
UAVs participated in a major air strike of PKK strongholds in Iraq's Kandil
mountains on May 20.
Officials said Turkey's Defense Industry Undersecretariat was planning a
review of other military projects with Israel. They said this included a
proposed joint upgrade of Turkey's F-4 and F-16 fighter-jet fleets.
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