Talks to repair Israeli-Turkish ties must await new Ankara government - Israeli diplomat

Record ID: 104206

  • Title: Talks to repair Israeli-Turkish ties must await new Ankara government - Israeli diplomat
  • Date: 10th May 2016
  • Summary: ISTANBUL, TURKEY (FILE - DECEMBER 26, 2010) (REUTERS) VARIOUS OF BLOODY SEATS INSIDE MAVI MARMARA BULLET HOLES IN CABIN WALL OF MAVI MARMARA
  • Embargoed: 25th May 2016 12:44
  • Keywords: Turkey Israel relations Shai Cohen diplomats Gaza blockade
  • Location: ISTANBUL, TURKEY / AT SEA
  • City: ISTANBUL, TURKEY / AT SEA
  • Country: Turkey
  • Topics: Diplomacy/Foreign Policy,Government/Politics
  • Reuters ID: LVA0064H85SNB
  • Aspect Ratio: 16:9
  • Story Text: EDITORS PLEASE NOTE: THIS EDIT CONTAINS MATERIAL WHICH WAS ORIGINALLY 4:3
    Long-running efforts to fully restore Israeli-Turkish ties, strained after an Israeli raid on a Turkish boat in 2010, must now await the formation of a new government in Ankara, Israel's top diplomat in Turkey said on Monday (May 9).
    Turkey downgraded diplomatic relations and ejected Israel's ambassador in 2011, a year after Israeli commandos stormed the Mavi Marmara, part of a humanitarian aid convoy trying to break Israel's blockade of Gaza, and killed 10 Turks.
    The two sides have signalled for months a deal is imminent, including compensation for the Mavi Marmara victims and an easing of the Gaza blockade.
    Israel is currently represented by Shai Cohen, its consul-general in Istanbul, who said a new Turkish government would need to be in place before relations could be fully restored.
    However, he ruled out lifting the sea blockade on Gaza in place since 2007, calling it a "non-issue," even though Turkish President Tayyip Erdogan has repeatedly made it a condition for restoring relations.
    Talks instead focus on how Turkey can bring its goods overland to rebuild Gaza, whose infrastructure has been battered by the blockade and Israeli incursions. About half of building goods in Gaza are from Turkey, and this could be increased in line with Israel's capacity to monitor shipments, Cohen said.
    Israel wants to ensure that Turkish supplies do not amount to cooperation with Hamas, which is classified as a terrorist group by Israel, the United States and the European Union.
    Israel accuses Turkey of hosting a Hamas command centre and wants Ankara to bar leaders of the Islamist group. Erdogan met Hamas leader Khaled Meshaal in Istanbul as recently as December.
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