Turkey, Israel set to hold another meeting to mend ties

Serkan Demirtaş - ANKARA

AP Photo

Turkish and Israeli diplomats are set to meet in Switzerland on Feb. 10 as part of ongoing negotiations to normalize their frozen ties, Israeli media have reported.

Turkish diplomatic sources neither confirmed nor denied the reports, but Turkish broadcaster NTV said Turkish Foreign Ministry Undersecretary Feridun Sinirlioğlu was on his way to Geneva to attend the meeting.

Diplomats from the two countries have long been negotiating over a plan to normalize their ruined relationship because of an Israeli commando raid on the Gaza-bound Mavi Marmara flotilla in 2010. Israel officially apologized to Turkey in 2013 over the killings of 10 Turkish citizens, but discussions on how much compensation will be paid to the families of the victims and how Turkish access to Gaza will be provided in an unrestricted fashion have yet to be clarified.