Syria, Egypt, Saudi Arabia to crystallize common position on Turkish-Israeli alliance
Regional, Politics, 2/12/1998

The Jordanian weekly al-Bilad issued Wednesday quoted Arab diplomatic sources as saying that last month's Turkish-Israeli maneuvers were the main reason for the urgent visit made by Egyptian President Hosni Mubarak to Syria in mid-January, especially as appendixes to the military cooperation agreement between Ankara and Tel Aviv allow Turkey to take part with Israel in any wars against the Arabs. The appendixes also permit Israeli planes to use Turkish airspace in attacks on Arab lands.

The summit also addressed cooperation between Israel and Turkey to form joint groups on strategic issues and full coordination concerning intelligence and security organs, along with the establishment of Israeli reconnaissance stations on Turkish borders with neighboring Arab states, according to al-Bilad report.

The sources added that these elements evoked worries in President Hafez al-Assad, who discussed with his Egyptian counterpart an urgent move to face the consolidation of Turkish - Israeli relations and its adverse impact on the Arab national security, according to the report.

The sources added that Saudi Arabia has joined the Syrian and Egyptian contacts to crystallize a common position concerning Turkey, the paper reported.

Previous Stories:
  Egyptian President meets with al-Sahaf   (2/11/1998)
  Egyptian - Turkish summit soon   (1/19/1998)
  Syrian-Egyptian summit convenes in Damascus   (1/15/1998)

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