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| The Grand Turk |
| Israel, Turkish officials to draft agreement to mend relations |
| 2010-12-07 |
| (KUNA) -- Israeli and Turkish officials met in Geneva to draft an agreement to mend strained relations between the two countries due to the Israeli raid on the "Gazoo Freedom Flotilla" last May, the Haaretz newspaper said on Monday. The Haaretz added that the Israeli and Turkish diplomats speculated that this agreement would demand an Israeli apology to Turkey for the killing of nine Turkish citizens on the Mavi Marmara ship of the Freedom Flotilla, in addition to compensations in relation to this incident. In exchange, Turkey would return its ambassador to Tel-Aviv and agree to appoint a new Israeli envoy in Ankara, the newspaper added. This meeting came upon the initiative of the Israeli Prime Minister, following the Turkish aid and assistance dispatched to help put out the Mount Carmel fires. It is expected that other meetings will follow to finalize the draft, the paper noted. It further said that the purpose of this meeting is to discuss a comprehensive agreement that would put an end to the strained relations between the two countries. The newspaper quoted Israeli Foreign Ministry sources saying Foreign Minister Avigdor Lieberman was briefed on the diplomatic communications which were handled by national security adviser, Uzi Arad. The sources said, they believe Lieberman has reservations over these diplomatic efforts, as he had said that Israel would not apologize or pay compensation to the Turks. Yesterday, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu seized the opportunity of the Turkish support to the Israeli fire-fighting effort to initiate attempts to mend relations. He sent Israel's representative on the UN committee investigating the Gazoo flotilla incident, Yosef Ciechanover, to Geneva to meet with the Turkish Undersecretary at the Foreign Ministry. Israeli-Turkish relations deteriorated following Erdogan's criticism of Israel's military attack on Gazoo Strip in 2008 which lasted for 22 days. The diplomatic ties were strained even further after Israeli soldiers killed nine Turks onboard the "Gazoo Freedom Flotilla" leading vessel. |
| Posted by:Fred |
| #1 How about Israel apologize for killing the Turks, and Turkey apologize for sending terrorists to Israel. |
| Posted by: gorb 2010-12-07 00:46 |