ANKARA, Feb 1 (AFP) - Israel's most senior army leader Moshe Yaalon arrived in Turkey on Tuesday on a two-day visit aimed at strengthening ties between the two countries, Anatolia news agency reported.
Yaalon, the Israeli army chief of staff, went straight into a meeting with his Turkish counterpart Hilmi Ozkok. The meeting was closed to the press.
During his visit he is also expected to hold talks with Defence Minister Vecdi Gonul, as well as Turkish President Ahmet Necdet Sezer.
A press report in Israel on Monday said that officials had held talks last week in Ankara about possible defence deals worth 1.5 billion dollars, which would see Israel upgrade the Turkish air force's ageing fleet of F-4 Phantom planes.
Yaalon is in Turkey at the same time as Palestinian leader Mahmud Abbas, who arrived in Turkey Tuesday on his first official visit to the country.
Turkey, a strictly secular country with a Muslim majority population, infuriated Arab nations in 1996 when it struck a military cooperation accord with the Jewish state.
02/01/2005 12:43 GMT - AFP