The Turkish President says normalization is possible if Israel pays compensation for the flotilla incident and lifts the Gaza siege.
Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan has today called for the normalization of relations between Turkey and Israel. He told the Turkish newspaper Haberturk, "This normalization process has a lot to offer to us, to Israel, to Palestine and also to the region. The region needs this.”
He added that there had been three obstacles to the thawing of relations between Ankara and Jerusalem after the Marmara flotilla incident in May 2010. He said that the first obstacle - an Israeli apology - had been removed. However, Erdogan added that the other two obstacles - payment of compensation for the loss of life on the Marmara, and lifting the Israeli embargo on Gaza - had yet to be removed.
Stressing that peace was needed in the region as soon as possible, Erdoğan added that the interests of all the nations involved in the conflict had to be addressed.
Published by Globes [online], Israel business news - www.globes-online.com - on December 14, 2015
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