Turkish pilots trained to take out Cyprus missiles: report

[ozgurluk at xs4all.nl]

   ANKARA, July 13 (AFP) - Turkish fighter pilots have been given  
training by Israel to destroy anti-aircraft missiles bought by 
Cyprus, the Hurriyet newspaper reported Monday. 
   Six Turkish F-16 warplanes, combat pilots, military experts and  
maintenance officers recently underwent training exercises in the 
Shdema base in Israel's  Negev desert to take out the S-300 missiles 
the Greek-Cypriot government has ordered from Russia, it said. 
   The Turkish newspaper reported that the Turkish military  
personnel were also given training in scrambling the missile 
batteries' radar and in flying undetected by radar. 
   Cypriot government spokesman Christos Stylianides said Monday  
that Cyprus has no information about the reported training. 
   But he said that the Cypriot government "has always maintained a  
cautious stance toward the military defense agreement between Israel 
and Turkey." 
   He added that Israel has often assured Nicosia that its  
agreement with Turkey does not affect Cyprus. 
   Stylianides also denied a report Sunday in Israel's Haaretz  
newspaper that his government asked Israel to intervene with Ankara 
to defuse tension Cyprus' purchase of the Russian missiles. 
   He said the "Haaretz article is not precise." The newspaper  
reported that Cyprus and the United States had asked Israel to use 
its influence with Turkey to ease the missile crisis, but that its 
efforts were in vain. 
   Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu told Turkish Foreign Minister  
Ismail Cem during his visit to the Jewish state last week that 
Israel regretted the Cyprus arms race and called for a peaceful 
solution to the crisis, Haaretz said. 
   Israel has good ties with both Cyprus and Turkey and wants to  
remain neutral in the conflict, Netanyahu reportedly said. 
   But according to internal foreign and defence ministry reports  
quoted by Haaretz, Israel believes Cyprus "committed an error" with 
its decision to order the missiles. 
   Delivery of the missiles was originally due in August but  
Russian officials said earlier this month that it has been put back 
to "late autumn" following a request by Greek-Cypriot authorities. 
   Cyprus President Glafcos Clerides reassured Russia on Monday  
during a visit to Moscow that his government intends to honour the 
contract to buy the missile system, Russian news agencies reported. 
   Meanwhile, both Turkey and Israel denied reports Monday by a US  
newspaper that Turkey is building an air base in the east of the 
country for Israeli combat pilots to train in Turkish air space. 
   The report, published in the Christian Science Monitor, was  
reproduced in the Turkish daily Milliyet Monday. 
   "This story is totally unfounded and has nothing to do with  
reality," a Foreign Ministry communique stated. 
   In Jerusalem, an Israeli Foreign Minsitry spokesman also denied  
the report. 
   Under a defence pact signed in 1996, Israeli and Turkish  
aircraft have trained in each other's airspace and the two nations' 
navies participated in January in joint naval maneuvers in the 
Mediterranean with the United States. 
   Israel and Turkey are also discussing a series of joint weapons  
projects, notably involving anti-missile defense systems, while 
Israel is upgrading Turkish warplanes in a contract worth more than 
600 million dollars. 
   The Cypriot missile deal has raised tensions between long-time  
rivals Greece and Turkey over Cyprus, which has been divided since 
Ankara occupied the northern third in 1974 after a coup aimed at 
uniting the island with Greece. 
   Ankara has vowed to take military action against the advanced  
ground-to-air missiles, saying they pose a threat not only to the 
Turkish-Cypriot part of the divided eastern Mediterranean island but 
also to Turkey itself. 
   Turkish Prime Minister Mesut Yilmaz said last week that Turkey  
would deploy missiles of its own in north Cyprus if the 
Greek-Cypriot government went ahead with the missile deployment. 
   The Turkish airforce carried out a simulated attack against  
imaginary S-300 missiles in northern Cyprus in November. 
  	   	



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