ROFL - Turkey Air Force doing annual manouver "Anatolian Eagle" together with China, US did not want to play

[link to www.asiasentinel.com]

Written by Gavin M. Greenwood
Thursday, 07 October 2010
ImageDudgeon and dragons for the Americans

Sometime during September, an unknown number of China's People's Liberation Army Air Force Russian-built Su-27 and Mig-29 fighters landed at the huge Konya airbase in Turkey's central Anatolia region. Within a few days they were training with Turkish US-built F-16 fighters in the first ever military exercise of its kind between China and a NATO country.

The brief training exercise, significantly held under the aegis of the 'Anatolian Eagle' series of joint military manoeuvres with NATO and other friendly powers, reflects multiple factors that will take some time for Turkey's allies to fully decipher. From a western perspective, China's sudden appearance on NATO's southern flank and other Chinese military adventures in the so-called 'Stans of Central Asia at about the same time was provocative in a period when relations between Beijing and Washington and many European countries are strained by a mixture of economic and military tensions.

This may have been the immediate – if probably opportunistic - intention as the Turkish deployment presaged China's Prime Minister Wen Jiabao's attendance at a summit with the EU commission in Brussels on Oct. 6 which was widely anticipated to be tense and probably fruitless.

The other, more strategic message embedded in the dog fights over Anatolia is nearer to China's core concerns. The deployment will strengthen the agenda of those within China's government and military who are keen to demonstrate Beijing's reach and ability to surprise. While some remain unsure whether the training event ever actually occurred, most are looking at what the episode may reveal about Turkey's motives and the country's future relationship with NATO and the European Union.

Certainly, China and Turkey appear an uneasy fit for any form of military co-operation beyond the institutional round of bland functions and stilted social events intended to somehow soothe mutual suspicions and calm often barely concealed enmities.

more at link above

[link to news.yahoo.com]

The air forces of China and Turkey have carried out a joint exercise, the U.S. Defense Department said on Friday, in what appeared to be the first such drill involving Beijing and a NATO member country.

Turkey assured the United States it would take the "utmost care" to protect sensitive U.S. and NATO technologies, said U.S. Army Lieutenant Colonel Tamara Parker, a department spokeswoman.

She described Turkey's government as committed to the NATO alliance and the continuation of strong ties to the United States.

"To the best of our knowledge, U.S.-made F-16s were not involved in the exercise," Parker said. She referred a caller to the Turkish government for details of the maneuvers.

The office of the Turkish defense attache in Washington did not respond to a request for comment.

Turkish press reports have said the exercises took place September 20 through October 4 at the Konya air base in Turkey's central Anatolia region.

more at link above

Notice how the Yahoo article (a Reuters text) puts an empty line after each sentence.

Quite annoying to read, I think.

What a stupid way to write. -.-

However, now you´ll say, hey the articles don´t say the US did not want to participate! Well, the exercises with the chinese Air Force were part of the annual (since 2001) maneuver "Anatolian Eagle" ( [link to en.wikipedia.org] , [link to www.anadolukartali.tsk.tr] with friend state´s Air Forces.

The wiki link above is funny, quite empty:

Anatolian Eagle is Turkish Military Maneuvers done jointly with USA, NATO and other armies on yearly basis in Konya Turkey. The first maneuver was performed 18-29 June 2001 and the participants were Turkey, USA and Israel.[1]

That´s all. It does not say that since last year Israel is not allowed to participate, and this time US did not want to.
Says this german article: [link to alles-schallundrauch.blogspot.com]
The author unfortunately did not post his source (hrmpf, i hate that!), but i found this at the site posted above already:
[link to www.anadolukartali.tsk.tr]
Click through the last exercises...