Gaza assault jeopardizes Turkish tourism, defense deals

[FarCenter]

Tuesday, June 1, 2010
ISTANBUL - Daily News with wires
Israeli military’s deadly assault against the Gaza aid flotilla is expected to have serious repercussions in economic and trade ties between Ankara and Tel Aviv. As Culture Minister Ertuğrul Günay confirms thousands of reservation cancelations by Israelis, the Defense Ministry is pondering the annulment of joint military projects

The Israeli military raid on a Turkish aid ship headed for Gaza that left at least nine dead is expected to have serious repercussions in economic ties between the two countries.

As tourism seems to be the first area that will be hit by the unprecedented tension, defense deals could also be put under scrutiny by the Turkish government.

Speaking to journalists in Ankara on Tuesday, Culture and Tourism Minister Ertuğrul Günay confirmed many Israeli tourists are canceling reservations.

<SNIP>

Günay put the number of first cancellations at “between 10,000 and 20,000.”

However, Başaran Ulusoy, chief of the Association of Turkish Travel Agencies, said “a minimum of 70,000-80,000 tourists from Israel will be lost.”

“Turkey is the United Nations of international tourism,” Vatan newspaper quoted him as saying on Tuesday. “The safety of the lives of Israeli tourists is under the guarantee of the Turkish Republic. Everybody should continue their holidays without fear.”

Cruises changing course

Vatan reported Tuesday that cruises carrying Israeli tourists to destinations such as Alanya and Marmaris have changed course in the aftermath of the Israeli assault and are now heading toward Cyprus or Rhodes. The Mirage-1, which was carrying 420 Israeli tourists to Alanya, has changed course to Rhodes, while a total of 50,000 reservations have been canceled in Bodrum and Marmaris, the newspaper said.

Speaking to Vatan, Sururi Çorabatır, head of the Mediterranean Tourist Hoteliers Association, said another cruise carrying 850 tourists to Alanya is now heading toward Greek Cyprus.

The cancellations came after the Israeli Foreign Ministry advised its citizens not to travel to Turkey.

<SNIP>

Tourism is only one of the economic casualties of Monday’s assault. Roughly $20 billion of joint projects in energy, agriculture and water, including a pipeline to carry gas, electricity and fiber optic cables from Turkey via Israel as far as India, are at risk following the raid, Vatan newspaper said.

Meanwhile, Defense Minister Vecdi Gönül said Tuesday that he foresaw no problems in the delivery of the unmanned surveillance aircraft Turkey is purchasing from Israel, according to the private CNBC-e channel. Nonetheless, the Undersecretary of Defense has begun debating the pros and cons of canceling the joint TARP project.

The $140 million project was planned as an enhancement of the capabilities of Turkey’s F-4 2020 and F-16 fighter jets.

http://www.hurriyetdailynews.com/n.php?n=gaza-assault-puts-tourism-defense-deals-in-jeopardy-2010-06-01

[McCamy Taylor]

1. This is sort of like Alabama declaring war on Florida. No one wins.