Turkish Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan dismissed on March 11 security concerns expressed by Israel over the launch of Turkey’s first spy satellite. “We are sending our Gokturk satellite to space in 2013. Some people are disturbed by this. They say: ‘Turkey will watch us from space in the future.’ You have been watching us for many years, decades,” Erdogan told youth party members of his ruling AK Party, without mentioning ex-ally Israel. Erdogan spoke after a senior Israeli defense official told Reuters the launch of Gokturk had prompted discussions in Israel about the viability of a US-backed blackout on high-resolution commercial photography of Israel from space. According to Jane’s Defence Weekly, Gokturk will provide images of objects of 0.8 meters across. At present 2 meters across is the finest grain available when it comes to pictures of Israel, thanks mainly to US legislation from the 1990s. Turkish Minister of Transport Binali Yildirim however told domestic media this week Ankara did not believe concerns by other countries were “binding.”
The satellite will ease Turkey’s reliance on US intelligence in its operations against the separatist Kurdistan Workers Party (PKK), which launches attacks on Turkish military targets from bases in northern Iraq. The Gokturk satellite, expected to cost around 250 million euros ($344 million), is being developed by Turkish defence contractor Aselsanand Finmeccanica’s unit Telespazio.