Turkey to Seek Damages for Members of Freedom Flotilla Killed by Israel

What has motivated the Turkish government to make a big U-turn in its relations with Israel, prompting it to mend ties with this nation after five years?Why has the government now declared Israel and its people to be friends of Turkey after directing systematic verbal attacks and accusations at this nation during the years when ties were broken?

“Israel has apologized for the Freedom Flotilla incident”, said Kurtulmus.

Turkey outlined three conditions necessary for the normalization of ties: an official apology from Israel for the deaths of Turkish nationals during the 2010 flotilla raid; payment of compensation to the families of those killed; and lifting the blockade on the Gaza strip.

“No one is more sensitive on Gaza, Palestine, than us”.

There was no mention of whether the two discussed Turkey’s rapprochement with Israel. Turkey and Israel have been in discussions for several months.

In an apparent bid to single out practices of the elected Israeli government which are disreputable for the Turkish government from the broad framework of the bilateral relationship with Israel, a senior executive of Turkey’s ruling party has said the “friendly” nature of relations with both “the Israeli state and the Israeli people” were undisputable for Turkey. If Turkey and Israel finally decide to normalize their ties, the former will be able to further diversify its gas needs via the latter.

But relations appear to have soured between Hamas and Turkey, following a Monday report that Hamas’s top operative in the country has been forced to leave to another state.

Ankara cut its diplomatic relations with Tel Aviv in 2010 after Israeli naval forces raided a Turkish ship bringing humanitarian supplies to the Israeli-blockaded Gaza Strip.

Netanyahu’s statements come after Yassin Aktay, a senior adviser to the Turkish Prime Minister, gave an interview to a Hamas controlled paper and said Israel had agreed to reduce the pressure on Gaza, although he did not specify how.

Some analysts say Erdogan is thinking about offsetting the potential loss of Russian energy by rekindling a past proposal to house a pipeline though which it would help export Israel’s offshore natural gas to Europe.