Istanbul: Turkey will halt military cooperation with Israel and will not send back an envoy, withdrawn after an Israeli commando operation to stop an aid convoy reaching Gaza, a Turkish newspaper reported yesterday.
The Turkish government has said it is working on a roadmap for future ties with once close ally Israel, following the May 31 operation in which nine pro-Palestinian Turkish activists were killed.
The Star newspaper's report of decisions taken at a cabinet meeting was based on unnamed sources. An aide to Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan declined to comment on the report.
The newspaper said the Turkish government had decided against sending back its ambassador to Tel Aviv unless Israel provides a member for a UN investigation into the incident.
Military deals
UN Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon has proposed a full international inquiry. Israel says it is conducting its own investigation, whose panel will include two foreign observers.
"We took a series of decisions covering military, diplomatic and political pressure and measures," The Star said.
It also reported that military deals, which the paper said were worth $7.5 billion, were to be frozen.Military cooperation, including joint exercises and pilot training, would also be halted, as would intelligence sharing.
