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Turkey has excluded Israel from an air exercise over Turkish territory, leading to its cancellation, the Israeli military said on Sunday.
Turkish officials had no immediate comment.
Turkish Prime Minister Tayyip Erdogan slammed Israel's three-week offensive that nearly 1500 Palestinians were killed with a third of them was children in the Gaza Strip in December and January.
The military exercise, scheduled to begin on Monday in Turkey, takes place every few years with the aim of improving international aerial cooperation, the Israeli military said.
"The exercise has been postponed as a result of Turkey's decision to change the list of participating countries, thus excluding Israel," a military statement said.
An Israeli political source told Reuters news agency, "Turkey had rejected Israeli participation and postponed the drill indefinitely after other nations, including the United States and Italy, refused to take part without Israel's air force."
Erdogan publicly condemned Israel over the Gaza assault and walked out on Israeli President Shimon Peres at the World Economic Forum in Switzerland in January.
A U.N. report last month found that Israel "punished and terrorized" civilians in Gaza in a disproportionate attack in its three-week war on the territory earlier this year.
Israeli forces deliberately attacked civilians, failed to take precautions to minimize loss of civilian life and cited strong evidence Israeli forces committed "grave breaches" of the Geneva Convention, the 575-page report noted.
Israel has rejected a cooperation with the Goldstone team or had not allowed it onto its territory.
The firing of white phosphorous shells and the use of high explosive artillery shells were listed as "violations of humanitarian law."
The report also said UN Security Council should refer Israel - If it fails to probe crimes properly- to the International Criminal Court (ICC) prosecutor in The Hague within six months.
PHOTO CAPTION
Turkish naval ships are seen in the Mediterranean Sea off the shore of the city of Haifa during a joint U.S., Israeli and Turkish military exercise, Aug. 19, 2008.
Agencies
