25/06/2004 By Zohar Blumenkrantz and Yoav Stern, Haaretz Correspondents, and Haaretz Service The Foreign Ministry on Friday was continuing intensive negotiations with the Turkish government in an effort to resume El Al flights to and from Istanbul after air service was halted earlier in the day. Negotiations began late Thursday. The moratorium on flights was declared Thursday afternoon after the Turkish Aviation Authority discontinued Israeli security measures at the airport. Israel’s civil aviation authority is also negotiating with the Turkish aviation authority in an effort to settle the dispute sparked by Israel’s demands for security arrangements at Istanbul’s airport. The aviation authority is set to assess the situation with the Foreign Ministry. El Al stressed Thursday that the decision to halt the flights is not connected to the terror attacks that took place in Ankara and Istanbul earlier in the day.
Several charter flights last week were halted to various destinations in Turkey due to a similar security issue. Turkey’s aviation authority issued 157 work permits for Israeli security guards which solved the problem.
