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

Record ID: 104208

  • Title: Talks to repair Israeli-Turkish ties must await new Ankara government - Israeli diplomat
  • Date: 10th May 2016
  • Summary: COHEN MEETING WITH REPORTERS (SOUNDBITE) (English) ISRAEL'S CONSUL-GENERAL IN ISTANBUL, SHAI COHEN, SAYING: "I believe that we'll have to wait till after the composition of the new Turkish government on May 22nd, maybe after, and in order to resume the negotiations, I believe that it will take another round or two in order to conclude the deal." REPORTERS LISTENING AND TAKING NOTES (SOUNDBITE) (English) ISRAEL'S CONSUL-GENERAL IN ISTANBUL, SHAI COHEN, SAYING: "We have something like eight or nine hundred trucks coming into Gaza on a daily basis and this number can be extended if needed and we are more than willing to enable Turkey to play that role. So the sea blockade is actually a non issue in our eyes in our view. And I believe that we already are beyond this point of disagreement with the Turkish authorities." REPORTERS LISTENING (SOUNDBITE) (English) ISRAEL'S CONSUL-GENERAL IN ISTANBUL, SHAI COHEN, SAYING: "From the Turkish point of view I believe that many issue should be continued by a new government, but having settled that, I believe that most of the issues with Israel and Turkey are already to a certain extent clear and we believe that we can move forward also after the new government is composed." REPORTERS LISTENING COHEN STANDING UP AND SHAKING HANDS WITH A REPORTER
  • 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: LVA0034H85SNB
  • 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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