Turkey, Israel move towards renewing ties

ANKARA

Turkish and Israeli diplomats met in London on Thursday in the latest move towards normalizing relations between the two countries.

In a statement released Friday, the Turkish Foreign Ministry said a delegation led by Under Secretary Feridun Sinirlioglu, a senior figure who served as foreign minister in last year’s caretaker government, met an Israeli team headed by Joseph Ciechanover, special envoy to Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, and Gen. Jacob Nagel, acting chairman of the National Security Council.

“The teams made progress towards finalizing the agreement and closing the gaps and agreed that the deal will be finalized in the next meeting which will be convened very soon,” the statement said.

Relations between the allies were seriously damaged in 2010 when Israeli commandos stormed the Mavi Marmara, a humanitarian aid ship attempting to lift the blockade of Gaza, killing 10 Turkish activists.

Ankara demanded an apology over the incident as well as compensation for the families of those killed and the removal of the blockade. Netanyahu issued an apology in 2013 but the last two conditions remain outstanding.

Moves towards restoring Ankara and Tel Aviv’s once close relationship have been buoyed by the influence of Iran and Russia in Syria as well as other considerations such as energy resources.