PM Erdogan: Turkey determined to implement punishments approved against Israel
IRNA - Islamic Republic News Agency
Ankara, Sept 8, IRNA -- Turkish Prime Minister stressed here Wednesday announced punishments against the Zionist regime are just and authentic, assuring, “Ankara is determined to implement those punishments.”
Erdogan stressed that Ankara is “enacting a “full freeze” of “diplomatic, commercial and military defense industry ties with Israel.”
According to IRNA, Recep Tayyip Erdogan who was speaking at a press conference in Ankara added that the Zionist regime acts unethically and is not committed to signed contracts and the regulations, adding, “Israel has not acted honestly in implementing its military contracts with Turkey.”
He added, “According to one of those contracts Turkey Bought Israeli Aaron drones, but the delivered drones to Turkey are devoid of the specified characteristics in the contract, and they have been sent back to Israel to be completed.”
He said, “Those drones have not been retuned to Turkey yet.”
Prime Minister Erdogan reiterated, “Turkey has suspended its entire military relations and defense industry cooperation with Israel and is ready for paying any cost for making this decision, but we will not let them ruin our national dignity.”
In related news Turkey’s Technology Minister Nihat Ergun, too, said Wednesday, “Turkey will see no damage from the suspension of its defense deals with Israel, and it will rely on its own resources.”
Turkey will continue to decry Israel’s failure to apologize for its deadly raid on a Gaza-bound aid ship last year, Minister Ergun said on Wednesday, calling the raid a “piracy.”
The recent suspension of defense industry contracts with Israel following the peaking of tension between two countries would cause no weakness for the Turkish side, a Turkish minister said Wednesday.
“Turkey might continue its way of relying on its own resources,” said Nihat Ergun, minister of science, industry and technology, in response to questions from the Hurriyet Daily News during a meeting with a group of economy reporters in Istanbul. He said Turkey’s recent approach of suspending military contracts with Israel would not result in “a downturn in Turkey’s defense industry.”
“Work – in the defense industry – continues in other channels through other sources,” Ergun said.
The military contracts between Turkey and Israel are estimated to be worth around $2 billion, according to a Saturday CNNTurk report.
Ergun touched on the matter of freezing entire ties and cooperation with Israel, giving the first signs that the trade ties might continue as they always have, excluding the millions of dollars in military contracts.
Noting that Israeli politics do not help ease the current political turmoil, Ergun said that despite the suspension of military contracts and the downgrading of diplomatic relations with Israel to the level of second secretary last week, the industrialists and business communities in both countries continue to trade with each other. “Trade ties continue to remain,” Ergun said.
Ergun also noted that the bilateral trade volume hit $3.1 billion in 2010, jumping by 26 percent from $2.5 billion in 2009.
Noting that Turkey’s exports to Israel in the first seven months of this year reached $1.3 billion and its imports reached $1.2 billion, Ergun said, “In other words there is no downward trend in bilateral trade.” He said Turkey would continue to decry Israel’s failure to apologize for its deadly raid on a Gaza-bound aid ship last year, defining it a “piracy.”
Israeli Central Bank Gov. Stanley Fischer said on Monday the deterioration of ties with Turkey “would be potentially expensive.”
“Particularly for us, as in terms of sophisticated economies in the region (Turkey) is the most important,” he said.
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Islamic Republic News Agency/IRNA NewsCode: 30553872
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