Turkish Foreign Minister Ahmet Davutoglu categorically denied claims that his country cooperated with Israel in Thursday’s attack on a Syrian missile base, saying Turkey would never help the Jewish state against a Muslim country.
“There is an attempt to give the impression that Turkey has coordinated with Israel,” the Hurriyet Daily News quoted him Saturday as saying at a press conference with visiting Iranian Foreign Minister Mohammad Javad Zarif.
“We have issues with Syria, an issue based on a principle. But let me say it clearly: The Turkish government has never cooperated with Israel against any Muslim country, and it never will,” he said.
On Thursday, the Lebanese television station MTV cited Israeli officials who allegedly claimed that Turkey had supported the strike by providing Israel with critical information.
http://www.jpost.com/Middle-East/Turkey-denies-cooperating-with-Israel-in-strike-on-Syria-air-base-330416
That US officials were placing responsibility for the attack on Israel’s shoulders raised “very disturbing questions” and affected “trust between allies,” an unnamed Israeli official was quoted as saying Saturday in the British newspaper The Guardian.
“Sharing information is embedded in the nature of the relationship between Israel and the US,” the official said. “It’s like a big pipeline that’s open to permanent flow. So disclosing information is a cause for dismay.”
This would not be the first time Israel was alarmed at a US penchant to leak sensitive information. Last April, Israeli officials expressed concern following a spate of high-profile reports quoting senior US officials discussing a possible Israeli military operation against Iran, including one in the US journal Foreign Policy claiming that Israel had secured the use of airbases in Azerbaijan for a possible attack on the Islamic Republic.
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