UK mediates to end Turkey-Israel impasse

Israeli media sources revealed Thursday that the UK Government is trying to mediate between Turkey and ‘Israeli’ in order to end the impasse between the two countries.

The Israeli newspaper Haaretz reported a senior Israeli official saying that Britain has been doing efforts to end the gap between both the Turkish Prime Minister Recep Tayyeb Erdogan and his Israeli counterpart for a couple of months.

The newspaper reported the senior official saying that Britain passed messages between the two sides, but no final formula has been yet reached to overcome a dispute regarding an Israeli apology for killing nine Turks on board of the Freedom Flotilla which was heading to the Gaza Strip in May 2009 in an attempt to break the siege.

It is mentioned that British, American and German diplomats have been working to calm down the Turkish-Israeli tension since the beginning of the crisis, or at least, to stop more deterioration.

Cooperating with Americans, British mediators, claimed the newspaper, increased their efforts when the Syrian revolution had become fierce. British and Americans believe that the Syrian revolution created joint Turkish-Israeli interests; therefore, officials in London and Washington expect improving relations between Ankara and Tel Aviv will help stabilising the region.

The senior Israeli official recognised that there are no positive results in the issue so far, but the efforts are still continuous. “Erdogan insists on clear Israeli apology and compensation for the victims’ families,” he said.

Haaretz said that Netanyahu refuses to apologise, while vice PM Moshe Ya’alon and the Foreign Minister Avigdor Lieberman see that the Turkish-Israeli interests are not the same regarding the Syrian issue.

The two men think that “Turkey hope an end to the Syrian issue with a government led by Muslim Brotherhood which has similar ideological background with the that of the ruling Turkish party, Justice and Development.”

British embassy in ‘Israel’ and Netanyahu office refused to comment on this news.