The two nations will exchange ambassadors as soon as possible after a six-year rupture, and the deal would be signed on Friday, Yildirim said. Momentum for a deal has increased in recent months, with Turkey reportedly seeking to restore its regional authority in the Middle East, and with Israel looking for a potential market for its offshore natural gas exports, a factor which Mr. Netanyahu hinted was significant in a deal being reached. The Turkish government cut off relations with Israel following an Israeli raid on a Turkish ship carrying aid to Gaza, in which nine Turkish aid workers were killed.
Advertisement
Turkey’s aid to Gaza would also be channelled through the Israeli port of Ashdod rather than sending it directly to the Palestinian enclave, the reports said.
Turkish undersecretary to the foreign ministry Feridun Sinirlioglu and Joseph Ciechanover, who represented Israel at the UN Gaza Flotilla Probe, met in Rome on Sunday to discuss the reconciliation deal, Turkish daily Hurriyet said.
The Kremlin meanwhile said Turkish president Recep Tayyip Erdogan had apologised to Vladimir Putin over last year’s shooting down of a Russian air force jet by Turkey’s military, opening the way for Russia to lift economic sanctions.
Diplomatic relations between the two countries were suspended in 2010 after Israeli commandos stormed the Mavi Marmara – a Turkish aid flotilla bound for the Gaza Strip – in worldwide waters. Now that we have Israeli assurances, all aid will pass to Gaza.
The agreement would secure the “continuation of the maritime security blockade off the Gaza Strip coast”, Netanyahu said.
“Did you ask the prime minister before you embarked on a humanitarian mission from Turkey to Gaza?”.
At the time Netanyahu was announcing the accord in Rome, stressing the elements favourable to Israel, Turkey’s Prime Minister Binali Yildirim was doing the same in Ankara, stressing other elements in the agreement more to Turkey’s liking.
In the aftermath of the attack, Turkey demanded a formal apology from Israel, compensation for the families of those killed, and the lifting of Israel’s Gaza blockade.
“The agreement, in a completely unreasonable manner, allows Hamas to maintain its official office on Turkish territory, and prevents the expulsion of Hamas leaders from its territory or bringing them to justice”, the petition read.
Sources emphasized Israel-Turkey interchange has grown sharply, even during the years of “icy” relations.
Advertisement
Turkey has ambitious plans to erect a new power station and desalination plant. “It primarily serves Israel, and the siege on Gaza will remain as it is”, the Reuters news agency quoted Nimer as saying. Relations took a sharp turn downward during Israel’s three-week war against Hamas in Gaza – from late December 2008 into January 2009 – when Erdogan criticized Israel over the high Palestinian death toll.
