U.S. warns Turkey that strained Israel ties could hinder arms deal

[Poll_Blind]

From Haaretz:

Obama tells Turkish prime minister that Ankara's position on Israel and Iran could lower its chances of obtaining U.S. weapons, the Financial Times reports.

U.S. President Barack Obama has warned the Turkish prime minister that his country's strained ties with Israel and increasing support of Iran could hinder an arms deal between Ankara and Washington, the Financial Times reported on Monday.

“The president has said to Erdogan that some of the actions that Turkey has taken have caused questions to be raised on the Hill . . . about whether we can have confidence in Turkey as an ally," one senior administration official told the Financial Times.

"That means that some of the requests Turkey has made of us, for example in providing some of the weaponry that it would like to fight the PKK, will be harder for us to move through Congress,” the official was quoted as saying.

--snip--

The most critical blow to Israeli-Turkish relations, however, came on May 31, when Israeli commandos raided a Turkish aid convoy trying to break the naval blockade on Gaza, which resulted in the deaths of nine Turkish activists. Turkey had threatened to cut off diplomatic ties with Israel, and continues to demand an official apology over the raid.

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[aquart]

1. We might not sell arms to genocidal Turkey?

No problem. They buy from Israel.

Sorry. Gotta laugh at us thinking we understand the people for whom the word "byzantine" was coined.