Turkey demands end of Gaza blockade to reconcile relations with Israel

Turkey will normalise relations with Israel after it fulfills the three conditions Ankara made after the Israeli assault on the Mavi Marmara ship, a spokesman for the Turkish presidency has said. This includes the lifting of the siege on the Gaza Strip.

Israel’s Yediot Ahronot newspaper said that Turkey has asked Israel to have a direct route to the Gaza Strip to secure the delivery of aid to the besieged enclave in order to complete the reconciliation.

Spokesman Ibrahim Kalın said: “The Turkish position on the Palestinian issue is clear, and whether an agreement was signed with Israel or not, we will continue to work to achieve the two-state solution and help the Palestinian people have their own state.”

An unnamed Israeli official told Israel’s Channel 2: “The main obstacles facing Turkey-Israel reconciliation talks are the Turkish demand to have a direct route to Gaza in order to send aid for the Palestinians and the Israeli demand that Turkey deports Hamas leaders and bans their activities.”

The channel said Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu stressed that Israel will not change its sea blockade on Gaza, while the official ruled out allowing Turkey to influence the course of events in the Gaza Strip.

Also read: Egypt asks Israel not to let Turkish aid through to Gaza