Turkish FM: Israel must do more to normalize ties with us

UNITED NATIONS (AP) — Turkey’s foreign minister says there has been “some progress” in improving Turkish-Israeli relations but Israel has not yet fulfilled all conditions for normalizing ties.

Foreign Minister Ahmet Davutoglu told a news conference on the sidelines of the UN General Assembly on Wednesday that there are three conditions that are important to Turkey and only one has been met.

Turkey’s demand for an Israeli apology “was fulfilled,” he said.

A second is compensation to the victims’ families where “there is progress” and negotiations are continuing, Davutoglu said.

“We hope this will be concluded,” he said.

The third condition is an end to Israeli restrictions “against Palestine,” he said.

An after-hours call to Israel’s UN Mission seeking comment late Wednesday was not immediately returned.

Relations between the former allies soured dramatically after Israeli commandos stormed a pro-Palestinian ship — the Mavi Marmara — trying to breach a blockade of the Gaza Strip in May 2010. The raid killed eight Turks and one Turkish-American.

Under a US-brokered rapprochement in March, Israel apologized to Turkey for the deaths and agreed to pay compensation to the families, launching a series of talks with Turkish officials on the framework of a deal. Israel reportedly offered $100,000 to each family, while the families were asking for $1 million each. During one round, a framework was said to have been devised under which payments would be based on the victims’ ages, family circumstances and other factors.

Other issues under discussion were an Israeli demand that various criminal lawsuits against IDF officers and Israel officials over the incident be dropped and a Turkish demand that Israel ease its blockade of Gaza.

The Hamas-run Gaza Strip has been under a blockade since 2007, after the terrorist group violently took control of the territory — a blockade confirmed legal in 2011 by a UN panel charged with investigating the restrictions. The investigation was triggered by the Mavi Marmara incident.

“Israel faces a real threat to its security from militant groups in Gaza,’’ the report said in its opening paragraphs. “The naval blockade was imposed as a legitimate security measure in order to prevent weapons from entering Gaza by sea and its implementation complied with the requirements of international law.’’

Davutoglu said Turkey was very concerned about the humanitarian situation in the Palestinian territories, especially in Gaza, following recent developments in Egypt.

The Egyptian border has recently closed the border with Gaza on several occasions and the army has destroyed smuggling tunnels to Gaza, compounding supply shortages from the Israeli blockade.

“We will be following, and we will hope, that all these three conditions will be met and the normalization process can go ahead,” Davutoglu said.

Turkey and Israel once enjoyed close political and military cooperation, but the flotilla incident led Turkey to freeze diplomatic relations. In March, Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu apologized to his Turkish counterpart, Recep Tayyip Erdogan, for operational errors made in the raid and promised compensation. Netanyahu agreed to ease, but not lift, the blockade of Gaza in return for Ankara dropping the lawsuits.

Earlier Wednesday, Israeli and Palestinian negotiators met on the sidelines of the UNGA at a conference of donors looking for ways to revive the fragile Palestinian economy.

Strategic Affairs and Intelligence Minister and former finance minister Yuval Steinitz called the meeting “positive” and said a “strong, viable Palestinian economy” helps to create a better political climate — as long as Israeli security needs are not damaged.

Both sides have resumed dialogue between finance ministers, Steinitz said. He announced that another 5,000 employment permits for Palestinians would be issued, and that Israel would ease restrictions, allowing more water, construction and cellular equipment into the Gaza Strip.

Michal Shmulovitch contributed to this report.