US President Barack Obama meets with Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdoğan of Turkey (L) in the Oval Office at the White House in Washington December 7, 2009. White House Denies Turkey Arms Ultimatum -- Politico
The White House denied a report Monday that the U.S. has threatened Turkey with potentially withholding future arms sales because of its tougher stance towards Israel and vote against U.N. Iran sanctions.
Obama “emphatically denied” a Financial Times story saying the president had told Turkish Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan that future arms sales would be contingent on softening his anti-Israel talk, White House pool reporter Jonathan Weisman of The Wall Street Journal writes.
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Update #1: White House denies giving Turkey ultimatum over Israel ties -- Haaretz
Update #2: Turkey denies rift with U.S. over divergent Middle Eastern policies -- UPI
My Comment: If the White House was not the one who started this story .... who did? And why? I would have to assume that someone in the administration wants to give the Turkish government a heads up on U.S. displeasure to their policy of engagement with Iran, and supporting Hamas against Israel.
Is Turkey listening? .... I guess we will soon find out.