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Turkey to buy Israeli spy satellite

13 February 2008 08:55 (UTC +04:00)

Turkish Defence Minister Vecdi Gonul told reporters after hosting his Israeli counterpart Ehud Barak the proposed purchase of an Ofek satellite was under discussion "at the technical level".
An Israeli official familiar with the negotiations said they have been going on for several years, with disagreements arising over cost and Israelâ€™s efforts to ensure a Turkish-owned Ofek would not monitor its nuclear facilities and some other sites.
"The talks have had highs and lows, and personal intervention by Barak or someone similarly senior on the Israeli side might be enough to clinch the deal," the official said, saying the asking price for the Ofek was about $300 million.
Gonul said Turkeyâ€™s defence industry undersecretary and Israelâ€™s Defence Ministry director-general, who accompanied Barak to Ankara, were handling the satellite discussions and other bilateral military projects. Israel is the only Middle Eastern country to have built and deployed its own satellites. The first in the Ofek ("Horizon") series was launched in 1988. Ofek-7, billed as Israelâ€™s eye on arch-foe Iranâ€™s nuclear programme, went into orbit last year. /APA/