Turkey reconciliation deal ‘near completion’

An Israeli minister close to Prime Minister Binyamin Netanyahu said Thursday that nearly all outstanding issues for a reconciliation agreement with Turkey had been finalized by both sides.

 

“I’d say we’ve successfully finished dealing with 90 percent of the topics,” Energy Minister Yuval Steinitz said in a radio interview.

 

Steinitz’s remarks were the latest in a long series of iterations from both sides implying a deal was imminent to end the rift between the former allies.

 

Turkey was a key regional backer of Israel until the two countries cut ties in 2010 over the deadly storming by Israeli commandos of the Mavi Marmara, a Turkish ship manned by Al Qaeda-linked Islamists, as it attempted to breach the military’s blockade of Gaza. 10 Turkish Islamist extremists were killed after attacking Israeli soldiers with knives, clubs and at least one pistol, leaving several soldiers seriously wounded.

 

Under US pressure Israel apologized to Turkey in 2013 for the incident, in what many thought would trigger a warming in ties, but tensions soared again the following year when Israel launched a military offensive to stamp out rocket fire from Gaza.

 

After years of bitter accusations and inflammatory rhetoric, the two sides held secret talks in December to seek a rapprochement, with another round taking place in February in Geneva.

 

Pressed by 103FM radio to say when he thought a deal might be completed, Steinitz said he hoped “in the coming weeks.”

 

“There is a huge interest on both sides – a strategic interest and an energy-related and economic one,” he said.

 

Read More: Turkey reconciliation deal ‘near completion’ – Inside Israel – News – Arutz Sheva