Turks working to repair rift after Gaza confrontation

A one-day trip to Turkey by Israeli defense minister Ehud Barak on Sunday will be the highest-level visit by an Israeli or Turkish official to the other country since Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan's explosive confrontation over the Gaza conflict with President Shimon Peres at the World Economic Forum in Davos, Switzerland, a year ago.

A Turkish military team has been in Israel to test Heron unmanned aerial vehicles that Israel has contracted to sell to Turkey for just under $200 million. A senior Israeli official also was in Ankara this week to keep that much delayed deal on track.

The US newspaper reports that analysts say it is no surprise that the main effort to restore the relationship is coming from the two militaries, which have formed its bedrock ever since the alliance was formed in the mid-1990s.

At the time, the alliance gave Turkey access to technologically advanced military equipment and Israeli intelligence capabilities. Turkey was fighting a brutal counterinsurgency war with Kurdish militants who had bases in Iraq and Syria. Turkey and Syria came close to war in 1998.

In the past decade, the collaboration has become less vital. Military trade dropped off. While Israel won a $688 million contract to modernize Turkish tanks, the Heron deal has been a bone of contention. Last year Turkey held its first joint military exercises with Syria, signed dozens of agreements with Iraq, and last week established visa free travel with Lebanon.