Turkey hopes for ‘positive attitude’ from Israel in coming days on deal

ANKARA

Turkey and Israel had launched compensation talks for the Mavi Marmara victims after Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu issued an official apology for the incident.

Turkey hopes that Israel will take a “positive attitude” in the coming days over the agreement for the normalization of relations, Foreign Minister Ahmet Davutoğlu said May 12, elaborating on reports in the Israeli media that progress will be made on the process this week.

 “We hope that in the coming days the Israeli side will take a positive attitude with regard to the progress already achieved, so that we can have a final result,” Davutoğlu said, speaking at a conference for the meeting of the U.N. Committee on the Exercise of the Inalienable Rights of the Palestinian People.

Citing an Israeli official, Jerusalem Post had reported late May 11 that the Israeli government was waiting for Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu to return from Japan on May 16 to finalize the deal.

Turkey and Israel launched compensation talks for the Mavi Marmara victims after Netanyahu issued an official apology for the incident.

Davutoğlu said normalization between Turkey and Israel would “hugely contribute to the Middle East peace process,” adding that the agreement would “also help to overcome humanitarian burdens faced by Palestinians and will also allow Turkish humanitarian aid to reach Palestinians.”

He reiterated that the two countries had “reached a certain point in the negotiations.”

“I hope that we reach an outcome [on talks] but I cannot give you a timeframe,” Davutoğlu said, stressing that Turkey would “say yes whenever the conditions are met.”

Netanyahu arrived in Tokyo on May 11 for talks with his Japanese counterpart Shinzo Abe, where he is expected to discuss the issues of Iranian nuclear talks and economic cooperation.