Turkey and Syria on Monday will begin their first joint military exercise, a move that has many officials in Israel concerned, including Defense Minister Ehud Barak. Ground forces of the two countries will take part in the exercise continuing until Wednesday. Turkey, who is a NATO member, has a joint border with Syria.

Turkish officials explain the goal of the joint exercise is to improve their joint abilities as well as to improve relations with Syria.

Defense Minister Barak stated the joint exercise is cause for concern and military officials are monitoring the situation, which is being called troublesome. One of the theories is Turkey has seen the obvious attempts by the White House to establish a diplomatic reality with Damascus, a move that has eased Turkey’s decision to move ahead with the joint exercise.

Recent months have been accompanied by strained relations between Israel and turkey, which was prompted by Turkish Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan walked out on an address delivered by President Shimon Peres in Davos, with Erdogan accusing Israel of murdering innocent children and war crimes during Operation Cast Lead.

(Yechiel Spira – YWN Israel)