Greeks bearing gifts

by Peter Grimsditch November 3, 2010

written by Peter Grimsditch November 3, 2010

The fallout from Ankara’s continuing and widening estrangement from Israel has seen some unaccustomed diplomatic bedfellows cozying up together in recent weeks. Close military ties between the two states were ruptured when Turkish Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan ordered a ban on joint military exercises. He also insisted on searching for sources other than Israel for unmanned aircraft used in assaults on Kurdish guerrillas based in northern Iraq. The rift originated from Turkish protests against the Israeli attacks on Gaza in the winter of 2008-2009 in which 1,400 Palestinians were killed. It reached a crescendo in May of this year when Israeli commandos stormed a Turkish-led aid flotilla heading for Gaza, killing nine Turks (including a dual United States-Turkish citizen) and seriously wounding around 50 others. Bereft of its usual war games partners, the Turkish Air Force teamed up with the Chinese People’s Liberation Army last month for exercises

Peter Grimsditch

Journalist, editor, and author Peter Grimsditch’s career began at his college's student publication and led him to become the founding editor of Britain’s Daily Star. He later worked in New York and Turkey as as a correspondent, eventually becoming the No. 2 editor at Lebanon’s Daily Star before inheriting the editorship.

Greeks bearing gifts

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