Via Friday-Lunch-Club
A new Turkish satellite has Israelis eyeing the end of a U.S.-backed blackout on high-resolution commercial photography of their turf from space.The GokTurk satellite due in orbit by 2013 will sell images of objects more detailed than 2 meters across -- currently the finest grain available when it comes to pictures of Israel, thanks mainly to U.S. legislation from the 1990s. Turkey's leap into the aerospace market treads on Israeli security sensitivities given the former allies' recently strained ties. Unlike with other nations that have fielded commercial satellites, Israel has little leverage over Ankara. "We try to ensure that we are not photographed at high resolutions, and most [countries] accommodate us," a senior Israeli defense official said. "Should we request this of the Turks? We won't ask for it. There is no one to talk to." ........Turkey, whose Islamist-rooted government froze relations with Israel after its deadly raid on a Gaza aid ship last year, has shown no interest in veiling the Jewish state from GokTurk. "We decide how to use the images taken by our satellite," an unnamed Turkish official told the newspaper Today's Zaman....
The Israeli official said such measures helped prevent "sensitive material falling into the hands of terrorists". Israel also frets about its nuclear facilities and other secretive projects becoming too open to public scrutiny......"
Posted by G, Z, or B at 3:32 PM
Uprooted Palestinian
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