Gul in Israel on Tuesday, tripartite maneuvers in the Mediterranean, US, Turkey take part

The Israeli army announced on Sunday that Israel, the USA and Turkey will hold in the mid of January joint air and sea maneuvers in the international waters off the coasts of Palestine.

A military statement said that these maneuvers which are the 7th of its kind will concentrate on seal rescue operations and coordination between the three military leaderships in the three countries, defining not a date. Helicopters and reconnaissance plane and ships for the American, Israeli and Turkish naval forces will be taking place.

The last maneuver of this kind was held in August 2003 in the international waters to the east of the Mediterranean off the coasts of southern Turkey.

The announcement for the new maneuvers came while the Turkish foreign minister Abdullah Gul starts a visit to Israel tomorrow ( Tuesday) in order to improve relations between Turkey and Israel and remove tension following the strong criticism made by the Turkish prime minister Recept Tayyip Erdogan to Israel's policy towards the Palestinians. Gul will visit Ramullah on Wednesday in order to meet with the Palestinian officials.