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Only one condition fulfilled by Israel, says Turkish deputy PM

Türkiye Materials 22 December 2015 14:58 (UTC +04:00)
Turkey and Israel continue the talks on normalizing the bilateral relations.
Only one condition fulfilled by Israel, says Turkish deputy PM

Baku, Azerbaijan, Dec.22

By Rufiz Hafizoglu - Trend:

Turkey and Israel continue the talks on normalizing the bilateral relations, Turkish Deputy Prime Minister Numan Kurtulmus said.

He noted that Israel has fulfilled only one of the conditions earlier named by Turkey's President Recep Tayyip Erdogan for normalizing the relations, Anadolu agency reported Dec.22.

Erdogan said Israel should apologize for the Freedom Flotilla incident, pay compensation to the families of those killed and end the blockade of the Gaza Strip.

"Israel has apologized for the Freedom Flotilla incident," said Kurtulmus.

Israel and Turkey were strategic partners in the past, but moved away from each other as Turkey reoriented its foreign policy from the European integration to strengthening its position in the Arab and Muslim world.

The two countries' relations worsened drastically after an incident involving the Freedom Flotilla, intercepted in 2010 by Israeli commandos on its way to break through the blockade around the Gaza Strip, resulting in the death of nine Turks taking part in the voyage.

Edited by SI

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