There was no more of a rift between Turkey and Israel then there was between Germany and Poland in 1939. Germany wanted Poland destroyed and Poland wanted to live, so the concept of a “rift” was misleading. The same is true between Turkey and Israel. Erdogan wanted a confrontation with Israel, Israel wanted to maintain friendly relations with Turkey so Turkey manufactured the Mavi Marmara incident. Watch Turkey look for another “conflict” to pick with Israel in the future.
by Tovah Lazaroff and Herb Keinon
Israeli and Turkish officials reached a draft agreement to mend the three-year diplomatic crisis between the two countries, after a productive day-long meeting at the Foreign Ministry in Jerusalem on Monday night.
“The two sides expect to come to an agreement in the near future,” said a statement released by the Prime Minister’s Office.
“The meeting was conducted in a good and positive manner. The delegations reached an agreed draft, but further clarifications are required on certain subjects,” the PMO said.
Prime Minister Binyamin Netanyahu was in China when the meeting occurred.
National Security Council head Yaakov Amidror along with Joseph Ciechanover from the Prime Minister’s Office led the Israeli delegation.
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Turkish Foreign Ministry undersecretary Feridun Sinirlioglu, a former Turkish ambassador to Israel, led his country’s delegation.
It was the highest-level Turkish delegation to visit Israel in the last three years.
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It following an initial day-long meeting between the two delegations in Ankara in April.
That Turkish delegation was led by Deputy Prime Minister Bulent Arinc.
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In light of the growing threats from Syria and Iran, Israel and Turkey are looking to repair their severed relationship and normalize ties.
Ankara broke off relations with Jerusalem in May 2010, after the IDF raided the ship Mavi Marmara as it attempted to break Israel’s naval blockade of Gaza, killing nine Turkish activists on board.
A March gesture by Netanyahu, in which he apologized to Turkey for the deaths, came at the tail end of a visit to Israel by US President Barack Obama.
Netanyahu promised to conclude an “agreement on compensation/non-liability” with the families of the nine Turkish activists.
In April a compensation mechanism was agreed upon with Turkey, but no sums have been publicized. It is understood that full reconciliation and the restoration of diplomatic ties will not be possible until compensation is agreed upon.
This reconciliation will include an exchange of ambassadors, as had existed in the past.
Read the rest – Israel and Turkey reach agreement to end rift
Tags: Benjamin Netanyahu, Herb Keinon, Recep Tayyip Erdoğan, Tovah Lazaroff
