Israel, Turkey begin talks over compensation for Gaza flotilla victims' families

[PalestineMyHeart 1,897]

Israel, Turkey begin talks over compensation for flotilla victims' families

Recep Erdogan says normalization of Israeli-Turkish relations is contingent on payment of compensation for the botched flotilla raid and the easing of restrictions on the flow of goods into Gaza.

Israel and Turkey began talks Monday the compensation Israel will pay the families of victims of the 2010 flotilla raid, for which Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu apologized last week, The French news agency AFP reported.

"Officials delegated by the two sides will work on the compensation issue. We gave the kickstart for it today," Deputy Prime Minister Bulent Arinc told AFP the Turkish government's weekly cabinet meeting. "This is a big success of Turkish foreign policy," he said.

Arinc said Turkey's foreign minister "held talks with the other party and expressed the necessity to swiftly solve the issue," AFP reported.

On Sunday Turkish Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan suggested that normalization of ties with Israel would take time, hinting that Turkey wanted to ensure the victims of the flotilla raid were compensated and Israel remained committed to the easing of restrictions of goods to Gaza before restoring relations.

"We have said: An apology will be made, compensation will be paid and the blockade on Palestine will be lifted. There will be no normalization without these," he said in a public address on Sunday. "Normalization will happen the moment there is an implementation. But if there is no implementation, then I am sorry."

Erdogan's comments on Sunday came days after Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu called the Turkish leader to apologize for the botched raid on a Gaza-bound flotilla in 2010 that killed eight Turks and one Turkish-American.

Erdogan accepted the apology and both leaders said they would begin the work of restoring full relations.

Turkey and Israel were once strong allies but relations began to decline after Erdogan, whose party has roots in Turkey's Islamist movement, became prime minister in 2003. Erdogan has embarked on a campaign to make Turkey a regional powerhouse in an attempt to become a leading voice in the Muslim world, distanced from Israel.

Animosity increased after the flotilla incident and ambassadors were later withdrawn. Netanyahu had previously refused to apologize, saying Israeli soldiers acted in self-defense after being attacked by activists.

Israel lifted most restrictions on the import of goods into Gaza following the flotilla incident and only restrictions on some construction materials and most exports remain in effect.

During Friday's conversation between the two leaders, Netanyahu said Israel had substantially lifted the restrictions on the entry of civilian goods into Gaza and the Palestinian territories and this would continue as long as "calm prevailed."

http://www.haaretz.com/news/diplomacy-defense/israel-turkey-begin-talks-over-compensation-for-flotilla-victims-families-1.511864

[I AM NOT THAT GUY 5,715]

How much money will the US have to borrow from China for Israel to pay off the Turks?

[Mr. Big Dog 10,747]

How much money will the US have to borrow from China for Israel to pay off the Turks?

Not a dime. We can borrow that from Turkey.

[PalestineMyHeart 1,897]

Israel to pay Turkey tens of millions over Gaza flotilla deaths, sources say

Israel will transfer the amount to a humanitarian fund set up by Turkish government to compensate for deaths of Turkish activists on Mavi Maramara in 2010; Turkish diplomat says U.S. pressuring Erdogan not to visit Gaza, West Bank.

In the wake of Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu's apology Friday to Turkish Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan over the deaths of nine Turkish activists aboard the 2010 Gaza flotilla, the two countries have set the wheels in motion to pay compensation over the deaths, with Israel set to pay out as much as tens of millions of dollars, according to sources in Turkey.

High-level diplomatic contact between the two countries began on Monday when Turkish Foreign Minister Ahmet Davutoglu spoke with Justice Minister Tzipi Livni over the establishment of a joint committee that will formulate the terms of Israel's agreement to pay compensation.

The vice prime minister of Turkey, Bulent Arinc, told journalists on Monday that both sides agreed to establish a joint high-level committee over the coming days to discuss the details of the transfer of the compensation.

On the Turkish side, the committee will be led by Turkey's Undersecretary of the Foreign Ministry Feridun Sinirlioğlu, who was also the past ambassador to Israel.

A year ago, both sides already reached an agreement in principle to transfer the compensation to a special humanitarian fund to be established by the Turkish government. This was to avoid the need for direct negotiations between Israel and the victim’s families. Turkish sources told Haaretz that the amount to be paid by Israel is still unknown, but is “tens of millions of dollars.”

Those same sources said that the compensation payment, whose scope will be determined by Turkey, was the “simplest clause in all mediation efforts between the sides, but it is possible that it now may be made more complex, as Israel is demanding the cancellation of all charges filed against Israeli officers, and of the legal proceedings that had begun against them. Turkey can undertake not to submit any charges against Israelis, but it is not legally possible [for it to] to cancel private proceedings that have already begun. The only thing is to try to persuade their families to withdraw their claims, but there is no way to force them to do so.”

Arinc also clarified that the date of Turkish Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan’s visit to Gaza and the West Bank has not yet been set: “The prime minister wants to visit Palestine but the visit has not yet been confirmed. If it will be possible then the visit will take place; if not, then it won’t,” Arinc said. At the start of the month, it was reported that Turkey had decided to raise the level of diplomatic representation in the territories, and to appoint the Jerusalem Consul General, Şakir Özkan Torunlar, to the post of ambassador to Palestine. Turkey denied the appointment.

A senior diplomatic source told Haaretz that Erdogan was under American pressure not to visit Gaza at a time when relations between Turkey and Israel are beginning to thaw. The source added that “Turkey is examining the possibility of a high-level visit to Israel, probably by Foreign Minister Davutoglu before he visits Gaza and the West Bank. If the compensation agreement is paid without any complications, there is also the option that Turkey will invite high-level Israel officials to visit Ankara.”

Turkish analysts said on Monday that Erdogan, who received the text of Netanyahu's apology via email before he spoke on the phone with the Israeli prime minister, already agreed in June 2011 to a softened apology, according to which "the killings and wounding aboard the Mavi Marmara were not carried out intentionally." This is in contrast to Turkey's official position, that accused Israel of a deliberate attack.

Kadri Gursel of the newspaper Milliyet wrote Monday that Erdogan agreed to an apology that referred to the deaths of Turkish civilians aboard the Gaza flotilla vessel as "an operational error," as he agreed to a softened apology saying that Israel would commit to easing the conditions of the blockade on the Gaza Strip, instead of a text that demands that the lifting of the blockade.

http://www.haaretz.com/news/diplomacy-defense/israel-to-pay-turkey-tens-of-millions-over-gaza-flotilla-deaths-sources-say.premium-1.511898#