Israel, Turkey reach preliminary agreement to restore diplomatic ties

Zorlu Enerji, a Turkish power producer with investments in Israel, gained the most in nearly 12 years on Istanbul’s stock exchange after an Israeli official said the two countries reached a preliminary agreement to mend ties.

A speedboat escorts Turkish ship Mavi Marmara with Israeli forces on board near the southern port of Ashdod, May 31, 2010.

Turkey also agreed that it will no longer allow entry to a senior operative from the military wing of the Hamas Islamic movement that controls Gaza, the Israeli official said.

Turkey withdrew its ambassador to Israel after the flotilla incident and refused to resume normal diplomatic ties with the Jewish state without an apology and compensation for the victims’ families.

Earlier this week, Mr. Erdogan, now Turkey’s president, hinted at warming Israeli-Turkish relations, saying an agreement could be good for the region.

“The agreement has yet to be finalized, but its diplomatic damage is already done”, he charged in a talk at Limmud FSU.

The announcement of the understanding comes almost three years after President Barack Obama facilitated a phone call between Netanyahu and Turkish Prime Minister (now President) Recep Tayyip Erdoğan in an effort to reconcile the two countries.

Nine Turkish citizens were killed and 30 other people injured, including one person who died almost four years after being critically injured in the attack.

A US official familiar with the agreement confirmed the details. But they said the talks offered the most promising sign that Turkey and Israel were ready to put the politically charged incident behind them.

A group of six civilian ships set sail for Gaza from Cyprus with the goal of breaking Israel’s blockade on the strip of Palestinian territory. Turkey will pass a law dropping legal proceedings against Israeli officials, and it will deport a leading member of Hamas, and work to limit its activities in the West Bank.

According to the source, Premier Benyamin Netanyahu’s envoy for contacts with Turkey, Joseph Ciechanover, and national security advisor – a next Mossad chief – Yossi Cohen met Wednesday in Zurich with the foreign undersecretary and reached a deal.