Turkey is putting the finishing touches to a military satellite, The Gokturk satellite as it plans to launch it within the next two years to take the very pictures Tel Aviv does not want distributed.

Ankara / NationalTurk – Israel has a new headache and fear to worry about. While the nuclear crazy Iran is showing off what its weapon arsenal offers in abundance, Turkey takes a more sinister approach in case of weapons and intelligence.

Turkey plans to seize  the high resolution photos of the Israel territory, which are currently unavailable to the public. Turkey and Israel the former allies in the wild Middle East setup are becoming enemies.

Until now, only the Americans had the technology capable of taking satellite images greater than two meters per pixel resolution, and American law stopped US companies from distributing the pictures. Washington shares Israel’s security concerns and abides by the wishes of its key Middle East ally.

Google earth blocks zoom on Israel, for Göktürk not a problem

This means even with Google Earth one can zoom into Israel only so far, explains Gerald Steinberg, professor of political science at Bar-Ilan University in Israel. “If you try to look at specific parts of Israel, many of them will come out blurrier than any other place in the world that I have checked,”

But that is about to be altered. Turkey is putting the finishing touches to a military satellite it plans to launch within the next two years. The Gokturk ( a reference to one of the first Turkish states in central Asia) satellite will be capable of taking the high resolution images Tel Aviv government does not want distributed, and there are no American-style legal concerns in Turkey about upsetting its photo-sensitive neighbor, Israel.

“Turkey could sell directly or indirectly some of these imageries to enemies of Israel, if it prefers not to use them personally.” stresses Mohammed Najib, defense analyst at Jane’s Defense Weekly.

Israel Turkey relations

Such a prospect is especially unnerving for Israelis now, because tensions between Tel Aviv and Ankara are at an all-time high. An aid flotilla attempt on Gaza two years ago that left nine Turks dead, and Ankara’s expulsion of the Israeli ambassador, has Tel Aviv nervously weighing its options.

The irony is that not so long ago the Gokturk satellite would have spelt good news for Israel. The two countries co-operated extensively, especially sharing military intelligence. But whereas once Turkey was Israel’s closest ally in the Muslim world, today Ankara is increasingly asserting itself as a powerful player in its own right.

Shifting powers in the Middle East

“Turkey is trying to declare that Israel will not be granted special service or relations that it used to have. They are saying that the eastern Mediterranean is not the playing ground of Israel, there are different countries, everyone should abide by the same laws,” states Dr Nimrod Goren, Middle East politics expert, who focuses on Turkish-Israeli relations.

One satellite is barely enough to put Israel’s picture-shy world in a spin. But Israel is not a country that wants its neighbors knowing its business, especially with an Arab world in flux, the Midle East the boiling couldron and Israel fast losing former allies.

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