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Turkey and Israel are likely to face a new crisis over Turkey’s Göktürk
electro-optical satellite project, which will pave the way for the
Turkish military to gather its own intelligence, according to Turkish
newspaper "Today's Zaman."
"Today's Zaman" said that the project will
enable Turkey to acquire high-resolution images for military
intelligence in Europe, the Caucasus and the Middle East, and that it
will also strengthen Turkey’s hand in fighting the outlawed Kurdistan
Workers’ Party (PKK).
However, the paper reported that Israel is
concerned that the satellite will gather images of its territory, and
has therefore pressured France, which is working on the construction of
the satellite in cooperation with the Italian-based company Telespazio,
to stop the project.
"Today's Zaman" added that with the
possibility that its efforts in France may yield no results, Israeli
officials are also lobbying in Ankara.
The Turkish daily wrote,
"Once the satellite is launched in 2012, Turkey will be able to sell the
images it obtains to other countries as well. Israel is currently
attempting to negotiate with Turkish officials in order to ensure Turkey
does not sell images of Israel to other states and Palestine. However,
the response from Turkish officials was clear: “We will decide how to
use the images taken by our satellite.”
Speaking to the
newspaper, high-level officials from the Turkish Defense Ministry said:
“For years, Israel has obtained images of our territory. For the first
time, we will have a satellite for intelligence. Reciprocity is
essential in international relations. If they observe Turkish soil,
Turkey has the same right, too.”
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