Turkey, Israel conclude military talks

Commander of the Turkish Air Force Gen. Ilhan Kilic on Wednesday concluded his official visit to Israel, during which he held talks aimed at strengthening the Turkish-Israeli military alliance.

During his meeting on Tuesday with Israeli Defense Minister Yitzhak Mordechai, Kilic expressed his conviction that there is a vast area to deepen military relations between the two sides, especially in the industrial and technological fields. He praised the process of modernizing Turkish planes in Israel.

For his part Mordechai expressed Israel's readiness to strengthen military cooperation relations with Turkey, especially in the area of air navigation. The deal to modernize the Turkish Phantom planes and the F-5 warplanes is estimated at a cost of US $ 700 million.

In the course of its cooperation with Turkey, Israel is preparing to provide the Turkish army with surface-to-surface missiles "Bobay type" at a cost of US $ 70 million.

By the beginning of next year, Turkey and Israel will hold their periodical meeting which is to conclude strategic topics. These meetings are to conclude comprehensive programs for the maneuvers to be carried out by the Israeli Air Force in Turkey and the marine exercises to be also held by the beginning of 1999, Israeli radio reported.