A-Sharq Al-Awsat: 'Syria-Turkey ties tighter because of Gaza op'

       Turkey has tightened its relations with Syria as a result of Israel's offensive on the Gaza Strip earlier this year, sources in Damascus told the A-Sharq Al-Awsat daily in a report published Friday. According to the Syrian sources, Turkey changed its attitude toward Israel following the three-week war and thus decided to strengthen its military cooperation with Syria. Ankara announced earlier this week plans to hold its first military drill with Syria, using ground forces in a border area that has been the focus of a 25-year conflict between Turkey and separatist Kurdish rebels. Defense Minister Ehud Barak called the unprecedented military exercise "very troubling." The Syrian sources told A-Sharq Al-Awsat that the plans came as a complete surprise to Israel, and warned that the significance of the drill should not be ignored. Israel has extensive defense ties to Turkey, a NATO member and among the few Muslim nations to have built an alliance with Israel. The Israeli and Turkish air forces and navies have held joint exercises. "Today we see a Syrian-Turkish drill, which is certainly a troubling development," Barak told reporters on Monday. "But I believe that the strategic ties between Israel and Turkey will overcome even Turkey's need to take part in this drill." (12,15)