Turkey, Israel, United States to hold joint naval exercise

A joint naval exercise will be held by Turkey, Israel and the United States in Turkish territorial waters between August 17 and August 21. The exercise, ‘Reliant Mermaid X,’ serves as a sign that tensions are thawing between Jerusalem and Ankara – who engaged in a war of words following the 2009 Gaza conflict.

The official word (via press release) from the Israel Defense Forces:

Next week (Aug 17-21), the Reliant Mermaid, a joint search and rescue exercise of parts of the Israeli, Turkish and United States Naval and Air Forces will be conducted for the tenth time in the Turkish search and rescue area in the Eastern Mediterranean. Eight ships, four helicopters and three search and rescue aircrafts of the three countries will take place.

The objective is to practice coordinated emergency search and rescue procedures and safety measures at sea. By improving their cooperation and coordination during the exercise, the forces of the three nations will be able to respond more efficiently and rapidly to potential naval threats as well as humanitarian emergencies in the future.

Turkish state media is taking the same “coordination and cooperation” line as well… and a news item on the semi-state Iranian Press TV network takes the same tact.

Of course, while we can talk about search and rescue all day long… it’s important to remember that the governments of Turkey, Israel and the United States all share common geopolitical interests.