Istanbul (AFP) - Seeking to make up for drastically worsening ties with
neighbours Iran and Russia as well as bolstering its energy security,
Turkey is moving to restore full relations with Israel after falling out
more than five years ago. NATO member Turkey was for years seen as the
main Muslim ally of the Jewish state, but ambassadors were withdrawn
following the deadly storming by Israeli commandos in 2010 of a Turkish
aid ship bound for Gaza. But in a surprise announcement, Israeli
officials said Thursday that initial understandings had been agreed with
Turkey at secret talks in Switzerland on normalising ties. Turkish
officials said no agreement on reconciliation had yet been reached but
confirmed for the first time that the discussions were making progress.
The
talks -- led by Mossad chief Yossi Cohen for Israel and Turkey's
powerful foreign ministry undersecretary Feridun Sinirlioglu -- have
also been accompanied by a conspicuous change in tone from Turkey's
outspoken President Recep Tayyip Erdogan. Erdogan, a stout defender of
the Palestinian cause, in July 2014 was accusing Israel of "keeping
Hitler's spirit alive" over its offensive in the Gaza Strip that summer
-- incendiary comments that infuriated Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin
Netanyahu. But this week he said: "We, Israel and the Palestinians and
the region have a lot to win from a normalisation process." - 'Changing
dynamics' -
