Israel's Barak holds talks in Ankara

Israeli Defense Minister Ehud Barak yesterday separately met with Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan, his Turkish counterpart Vecdi GonÜl, and Foreign Minister Ali Babacan. "Turkey will continue to give every kind of support to promoting Middle East peace," Erdogan said during the meeting. For his part, Barak said that Israel appreciates Turkey's efforts for Middle East peace. At a joint press conference afterwards, Gonul said that 15 military agreements had been signed with Israel, but there were no plans to buy an Israeli-produced spy satellite system. Today, Barak is scheduled to meet with President Abdullah Gul and Chief of General Staff Gen. Yasar Buyukanit.