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Turkey’s conditions: An apology, compensation from Israel and lifting the blockade on Gaza

December 18, 2015 at 12:49 pm

Turkey’s Energy Minister Berat Albayrak stressed that the restoration of relations with Israel is linked to the achievement of three conditions which Ankara has already outlined.

According to Turkey’s Haberturk newspaper, Albayrak said: “There will be no normal relations with Israel before these conditions are met.”

Officials close to the Turkish prime minister have stated that “an agreement still has not been reached; meetings are ongoing and are going well.”

According to information obtained by the Anadolu Agency, the officials also reported that the meetings between Israel and Turkey have been going on for a while.

Earlier yesterday Turkish diplomatic sources stated that the discussions between Turkey and Israel are continuing in order to restore bilateral relations between the two countries.

An Israeli official announced yesterday that Israel and Turkey reached what he called “understandings” for the normalisation of relations between the two countries. The relations between the two became tense after Israeli naval forces attacked a Turkish ship transporting aid to the Gaza Strip in 2010.

The Israeli source, who spoke on condition of anonymity, said that an agreement was reached during a secret meeting in Switzerland. This agreement includes Israel paying compensation to the families of the victims on the Turkish ship, the exchange of delegations between the two countries, and starting talks regarding the export of gas to Turkey.

He added: “In accordance with the initial agreement, Israel will pay a financial compensation for killing 10 Turks at the hands of the Israeli naval forces. They were aboard a ship of pro-Palestinian activists who tried to break the blockade on the Gaza Strip in 2010. In exchange for this, Turkey will drop all charges against Israel.”