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Turhan Tayan is prodding his Islamic-led government to forge tighter ties with Israel. Steve Rodan met the Turkish defense minister during his here this week.
Turhan Tayan enters the hangar at Israel Aircraft Industries, where the first Turkish airforce F-4 is being upgraded. The Turkish defense minister gathers several of his Israeli hosts for a group shot in front on the aging yellow warplane. Then, he bounds up the stairs for more photographs next to the Turkish insignia on the tail of the jet.
Oops, a photographer fails to get the shot. No problem. Tayan scoots up the stairs again for a pose. For good measure, he walks to the cockpit and preens for more shots.
When he descends, he returns to the handful of Turkish journalists who have interviewed him at least four times in the previous 30 minutes. The Israeli defense executives and officials, most of whom are hardly press-shy, look amazed. "My goodness, this man never stops," one Israeli executive says. "At this rate, we'll never get out of here."
The 54-year-old Tayan is an anomaly in Turkish politics. He is a secular minister in Turkey's first Islamist-led government. He is a civilian, a former journalist and attorney, who formally oversees Turkey's huge military establishment. And, for Israel, this week's visit was the most symbolic gesture of the growing relations between Ankara and Jerusalem.
"We are two countries in the region ruled by democracy," Tayan says. "Turkey attaches a specific importance to its friendship with Israel. The relationship between our countries is a process. We can't stand at one point. We have to go further."
Since February 1996, Israel and Turkey have signed three major accords that officials in both countries privately acknowledge have resulted in a strategic relationship. The first agreement is for free trade, without customs or duties, between the two countries. The second is for defense-industry cooperation, which led to the signing of a $650 million contract for the IAI upgrade of 54 F-4 Turkish airforce warplanes. The two countries are also discussing the Israeli sale of unmanned air vehicles and early-warning aircraft to Turkey.
The third agreement is the most nebulous. This is for military cooperation and training between Israel and Turkey. Both Turkish and Israeli sources...