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Summary Turkeys prime minister accused Israel of failing to meet its obligations in defense deals.
Turkey last week expelled top Israeli diplomats, suspended all military deals and vowed to step up Turkish navy patrols in the eastern Mediterranean, angered over its former allys refusal to apologize for the raid that killed eight Turks and one Turkish-American.Turkey also promised to lobby for support for the Palestinians bid for state recognition at the United Nations and warned that more sanctions against Israel could follow.Asked to comment on Turkeys decision to suspend defense industry deals, Prime Minister Tayyip Erdogan told reporters Israel wasn’t keeping to the terms of defense agreements, accusing it of not returning drones that Turkey had bought from Israel and sent back for maintenance.They are not loyal to agreements between us in the defense industry,” Erdogan said. “There might be problems, you may not be speaking to each other, but you have to fulfill your responsibility under international agreements.”Turkey has purchased 10 Heron drones from Israel, following the lease of a number of unmanned spy planes from the country. It was not clear how many of the drones are in Israel for maintenance.Turkey uses the drones to spy on Kurdish rebels, who maintain bases in northern Iraq, and have escalated their attacks on Turkish troops and police officers lately.
