January 17, 2010 Turkish President Abdullah Gul and Premier Recep Tayyip Erdogan refused to see Israeli Defense Minister Ehud Barak. Israeli official wished to meet with Erdogan, however the latter renounced invoking his visit to UAE, Turkish Hurriyet daily reports.

Barak also wanted to meet with Turkish President, however Gul also refused him reasoning his workload in “Istanbul-European Culture Capital” project events. Gul informed that can receive Barak on January 18 at the soonest, but the latter had to attend a conference in Germany that day.

According to diplomatic sources, Gul and Erdogan do not wish to meet with Ehud Barak for the recent Turkish-Israeli ‘Ambassador’s chair’ scandal.

Israeli Defense Minister will meet with Turkish Foreign Minister Ahmet Davutoglu and Defense Minister Vecdi Gonul as well as Chief of General Staff Ilker Bashbug.

L.A.