Turkey blocking Israel-Nato military drills until permanent Gaza truce

Turkey will block any new cooperation, including military drills, between Israel and Nato until a permanent ceasefire is reached in Gaza, Turkish official sources told Middle East Eye on Monday.

Israeli newspaper Yedioth Ahronoth reported over the weekend that Turkey has blocked Israel from taking part in Nato's annual exercise on "resilience and emergency preparedness" in Bulgaria, which will be held in September.

Two Israeli sources confirmed to MEE that Ankara had blocked their country's participation in the drill.

One source speculated that the recent move could be related to statements by Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, who vowed to protect the Druze and Kurdish communities in Syria. These statements and Israel's military presence in Syria have angered Ankara, which believes Netanyahu aims to partition the country.

A Turkish official source denied that the move had anything to do with Syria. "We have been blocking Israel's new engagements with Nato for over a year," said the source. "However, activities stemming from Israel's status in Nato continue."

The source added that apart from already agreed engagements before the war, Ankara has veto power within Nato, which works through unanimous decisions.

'Until a permanent ceasefire is achieved in Gaza and the obstacles to humanitarian aid are removed, we do not allow new... activities to be organised in Nato regarding Israel'

- Turkish official source

"Until a permanent ceasefire is achieved in Gaza and the obstacles to humanitarian aid are removed, we do not allow new or additional decisions to be made or new activities to be organised in Nato regarding Israel," the source said.

Ankara has previously blocked Israel from obtaining observer status at Nato, a stance it lifted during a reconciliation process between the two countries in 2023.

Turkish-Israeli relations have deteriorated sharply since a meeting between Erdogan and Netanyahu in New York in September 2023, which was intended to symbolise reconciliation.

However, following the Hamas-led attack on 7 October 2023 and Israel's subsequent war on Gaza, which has killed more than 48,000 Palestinians, Ankara has intensified its criticism of the Netanyahu government.

This led to a series of actions, including legal measures and trade sanctions, especially after the local elections in Turkey where Erdogan's ruling Justice and Development Party lost support partly due to its perceived weak response to the war on Gaza.

Since September, ongoing Turkish trade with Israel through third countries and Palestine has sparked a public pressure campaign by the opposition, which accused Erdogan of failing to close loopholes.

Ankara also joined a case against Israel at the International Court of Justice which accuses the country of conducting genocide in Gaza.