Turkey has cancelled air force exercises with Israel scheduled for this week – reviving fears in Jerusalem that it could lose one of its staunchest friends in the region.

Both countries on Monday denied the incident posed any threat to long-standing bilateral ties, though Turkey’s general staff issued a statement at the weekend saying that international participation in the fortnight-long “Anatolian Eagle” exercises had been delayed due to “contacts with the related countries through the agency of the foreign ministry”.