Turkey relaxing stance on Israeli compensation, says report

Turkish diplomatic sources have confirmed that the compensation talks are continuing between Turkey and Israel, without elaborating on the details of the meetings between the two countries.

“The news story is not a surprise, but the content of the story is wrong. We are talking about a multidimensional compensation agreement between Turkey and Israel. There are many sides to it. It is very wrong to say that Turkey lowered the amount of compensation it is demanding from Israel,” said a Turkish diplomatic source who spoke with Today's Zaman on condition of anonymity on Monday.

“In the event of an agreement on the compensation, Jerusalem and Ankara are expected to immediately announce an upgrading of relations and the exchange of ambassadors. In addition, the Turkish government will pass a law withdrawing all claims against IDF officers and soldiers connected to the flotilla raid and will block any similar claims in the future. Turkey will also cease to work against Israel in international forums," Haaretz reported.

Compensation for the killing of eight Turks and one Turkish-American onboard the Mavi Marmara aid convoy on its way to the blockaded Gaza Strip by Israeli commandos in 2010 is one of the key points of the Turkish demands of Israel in order to thaw relations between the region's former strategic allies. The May 2010 incident caused a downgrading of diplomatic ties between Turkey and Israel, and the Israeli ambassador was expelled from Ankara in September 2011 after Israel refused to apologize for the killings committed by Israeli soldiers.

“Saying that Turkey is unilaterally being flexible in the negotiations, as it was suggested in the recent press report, is wrong. Our aim is to come up with something that will work and be in harmony with our previous commitments and remarks, based on fairness,” said the diplomatic source.

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu is weighing Turkey's new offer, the report said.

The breakthrough in Turkish-Israel relations came after US President Barack Obama's visit to Israel in March of this year. Obama reportedly convinced Netanyahu to make a phone call and apologize to Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdoğan regarding the Gaza flotilla incident.

After that US-brokered step forward when Israel formally apologized for what it called “operational mistakes that might have led to deaths” on the ship, an advisor to Netanyahu, Yaakov Amidror, visited Turkey in April.

Speaking to reporters during Amidror's visit to Turkey, Deputy Prime Minister Bülent Arınç said the two sides had agreed on "the methods and principles, the basics and parameters" for working out the compensation arrangement, but said the amount to be paid had not yet been determined. He said the delegations might hold a second or third meeting.

"The meeting was positive in general," Arınç said. "When the amount of compensation is determined, when an agreement is reached and is approved by authorities in both countries, we will have reached an important phase for relations to be fully restored."

Haaretz reported that about a month ago Turkey approached Israel with the offer of lowering the figure for compensation for the victims' families. According to reports, Turkey is demanding $1 million for each victim, while Israel has offered to pay $100,000.

There have been several rounds of talks between the two countries regarding compensation, but after a Washington Post report in October suggesting that Turkey had given information to Iran about Israeli intelligence agents, the talks went into an undeclared freeze, Haaretz reported. Turkish sources denied that claim and said the talks continued, with Foreign Ministry Undersecretary Feridun Sinirlioğlu meeting face-to-face and having telephone conversations with his Israeli counterparts.

According to Haaretz, Turkey offered to resume negotiations earlier this month and right after that, an Israeli delegation went to İstanbul, headed by Israeli National Security Adviser Yossi Cohen, Netanyahu's envoy to the Turkish reconciliation talks, Joseph Ciechanover and acting Foreign Ministry Director General Nissim Ben-Sheetrit. Israel Foreign Minister Avigdor Lieberman reportedly wanted a senior ministry representative be part of the negotiation team with Turkey.

“The agreement is ready; all that's left is to fill in the blank with a number. There are still differences regarding the amounts, but they have narrowed,” the senior Israeli official said, adding, “There is a will on both sides to wrap things up as soon as possible and normalize relations,” according to the report.

If the two sides agree on the compensation negotiations, the document is expected to come before the Turkish Parliament for ratification, and the Turkish government is expected to withdraw all claims against the IDF officers and soldiers who were involved in the raid on the flotilla.