Israel and Turkey on
Sunday reached agreement to normalise ties, senior officials from both countries
said, to end a rift over the Israeli navy’s killing of 10 Turkish
pro-Palestinian activists who tried to sail to the blockaded Gaza Strip in
2010.
A formal announcement on the restoration of
ties and the details of the agreement were expected on Monday from Israeli
Prime Minister Netanyahu and Turkish Prime Minister Binali Yildirim.
“We reached an agreement with Israel to
normalise bilateral relations on Sunday in Rome,” a senior Turkish official
said, describing the agreement as a “diplomatic victory” for Turkey, although
Israel has not accepted to lift the Gaza blockade, one of Ankara’s three
conditions for an agreement.
The once-firm allies had been quietly mending
fences in trade and tourism since their leaders held a conciliatory telephone
call in 2013 and negotiations have intensified over the past six months to pave
the way for a mutual return of ambassadors.
Netanyahu travelled to Rome on Sunday to meet
US Secretary of State John Kerry and Israeli and Turkish officials were also in
the Italian capital to finalise the deal.
Israel, which had already offered its
apologies - one of Ankara’s three conditions for a deal - for its lethal raid
on the Mavi Marmara activist ship, agreed to pay out US$20 million to the
bereaved and injured, the Israeli official said in a briefing to Israeli
reporters travelling with Netanyahu.
Under the deal, Turkey will deliver
humanitarian aid and other non-military products to Gaza and carry out
infrastructure projects including residential buildings and a hospital in the
area, the senior Turkish official said. Concrete steps will be taken to address
the water and power crisis in the city.
A senior Israeli official said senior foreign
ministry diplomats from both countries would separately sign parallel
agreements on Tuesday.
The deal, politically touchy for both
countries, could pave the way for lucrative Mediterranean gas deals and a
diplomatic reprieve from Turkish troubles with next-door Syria and Europe.
The rare rapprochement in the Middle East,
bitterly divided over Syria’s civil war, has been largely driven by increasing
security risks with the rise of Islamic State and as both countries seek new
alliances amid a polarised region.
Israel demanded that its military officers and
government officials be indemnified against prosecution on war crimes
allegations. The Israeli official said the money would be paid after Turkey’s
parliament passed legislation on the issue.
Turkey’s Islamist-rooted President Tayyip
Erdogan had cast himself as guardian of Palestinian interests and engaged
Hamas, the faction that controls Gaza and is on the terrorist blacklists of
Israel and Western powers.
A 2011 report commissioned by UN
Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon upheld the legality of the Gaza blockade, which
Israel says is needed to stem Hamas arms smuggling. The UN inquiry also faulted
Israel for its marines’ use of lethal force as they stormed the Mavi Marmara
and brawled with activists on the deck.
Separate to the agreement, the Israeli
official said Erdogan would instruct relevant Turkish agencies to resolve the
issue of missing Israelis in the Gaza Strip. Israel says Hamas is holding the
bodies of two Israeli soldiers killed in the 2014 Gaza War and believes two
civilians are also missing.
No comments:
Post a Comment