BICOM

Turkish Foreign Minister Ahmet Davutoglu has told Israel Radio that he believes relations between Israel and Turkey will be re-established soon.

In 2010, the previously warm relationship between Israel and Turkey deteriorated and diplomatic relations were ceded after the deaths of nine Turkish citizens. They were killed whilst trying to prevent Israeli commandos taking over a Gaza-bound protest ship, the Mavi Marmara. In February, it was widely reported that a senior Turkish delegation visited Israel and had made significant progress in agreeing a compensation deal for the families of those killed aboard the Mavi Marmara, paving the way for a rapprochement. However, Turkey’s Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan quelled such prospects by saying at the time that any agreement would “need to include a clause in the protocol that calls for the lifting of the siege on Gaza.”

However, Davutoglu yesterday injected a note of optimism, telling Israel Radio that he wasn’t sure whether it would take days, weeks or months, but that an agreement between the two countries is nearing completion. He said that good progress had been made lately over compensation for the Mavi Marmara families and aid to the Palestinians, giving him reason to believe that relations will soon be normalized.

Davutoglu’s comments follow a similarly optimistic assessment by Turkey’s Deputy Prime Minister Bulent Arinc two weeks ago, who predicted that an agreement would be signed between the two countries following Turkey’s local elections, which took place on Sunday. Arinc added that US President Barack Obama had been instrumental in negotiations and that an exchange of ambassadors between Israel and Turkey is expected after the agreement is signed.