“It was waiting on the Israeli prime minister’s table anyway”, Kılıçdaroğlu said late on December 17, as reports about a preliminary deal between Israel and Turkey to normalize bilateral relations were leaked while he was in a live interview with private broadcaster Habertürk. The second point provides for normal relations to be resumed and that ambassadors return to the two countries.
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The deal, drafted at a secret meeting in Switzerland, calls for Israel to compensate victims of the raid, a return of envoys and the start of talks on gas exports to Turkey, the unnamed official said.
“No final agreement was reached during the talks between Turkey and Israel but the talks continue in a positive way”, they added. Turkey withdrew its ambassador to Israel and later expelled Israel’s ambassador to Turkey.
Talks on compensation began in 2013 after Israel extended a formal apology to Turkey in a breakthrough brokered by U.S. President Barack Obama but had not been finalized. “We knew that once the political issue was overcome, the rest of the process would move swiftly”, the source said.
Turkish firms have always been negotiating with Israeli counterparts on a pipeline to carry Leviathan gas.
As part of the framework agreement, Israel will set up a compensation fund for those who were killed or injured in the raid on the Turkish aid ship, the Mavi Marmara, while Turkey agrees to drop all legal claims against Israel, according to the Israeli officials.
A spokesman for Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu declined comment.
Then, during the United Nations climate change conference in Paris this month, Erdogan told an Israeli reporter that he believed it was possible for Turkey and Israel to fix frayed ties.
Necdet Pamir, an expert on energy in Bilkent University in Ankara, says Israeli natural gas could be an alternative to Turkey’s “extreme dependency” on Russian gas.
Earlier this week, Mr. Erdogan, now Turkey’s president, hinted at warming Israeli-Turkish relations, saying an agreement could be good for the region.
Pro-Palestinian activists on the boat had defied an Isaeli warning not to try to break the blockade of Gaza by sea.
Israeli Foreign Ministry Director-General Dore Gold said on December 14 that Israel always “desires to have stable relationships with Turkey” and “constantly seeks ways to reach that target”.
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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.
