Turksih-Israeli compensation talks nears happy end

A meeting between Turkey and Israel yesterday to discuss the terms of compensation for the 2010 Mavi Marmara raid was “positive,” according to Deputy Prime Minister Bulent Ar?nc.

“I can say that it was a positive meeting,” he told a press conference following a Cabinet meeting. “We are of the same opinion that this issue should be quickly resolved.”

Ar?nc said the amount of compensation was not discussed at the meeting, instead the principles and parameters to be used to calculate the compensation were determined. “The results will be announced when a complete agreement is reached and approved by the competent bodies of both sides,” he said.

Ar?nc said the nine Turks killed were travelling on a civilian vessel carrying humanitarian aid and were “martyrs.”

“There are 27 compensation cases filed by the victims, three by the relatives of the killed and the others by the survivors,” he said.

Following the lengthy meeting at the Foreign Ministry headquarters, the Israeli delegation proceeded to the Prime Ministry headquarters for a meeting with Deputy Prime Minister Bülent Ar?nc, who has the role of coordinator in the compensation talks.

Turkish officials told that the meeting would aim to determine the criteria to be used for the amount of compensation via a review of the literature concerning international law, rather than attempt to set an exact amount for the compensation.

Turkish officials have so far steadfastly refrained from citing any amount for the compensation on the grounds that such action would be hurtful to the families of the victims.

In the event of an eventual agreement, the compensation is expected to be transferred by Israel to a Turkish governmental fund. By resorting to such a maneuver, the Turkish government’s hands will be freer vis-à-vis the families’ insistence that an embargo and blockade of Gaza be lifted before they accept any offer from the Israeli side.

The Israeli delegation’s visit comes amid heavy diplomatic traffic to Turkey, as U.S. Secretary of State John Kerry was in Istanbul on April 20-21 for the Friends of Syria Core Group meeting, while Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas was in Istanbul yesterday for meetings with President Abdullah Gül. Abbas was set to hold a meeting with Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdo?an in Ankara as the Hürriyet Daily News went to print.

Speaking during a press conference in Istanbul on April 21, Kerry remarkably disclosed his appeal to Erdo?an to put off a planned visit to Gaza to avoid disrupting efforts to revive peace talks between Israel and the Palestinians.

As for the Abbas leadership, it is known that Ramallah maintains that such a visit to Gaza would be more beneficial if it comes after progress in the reconciliation process between rival Palestinian groups Hamas and Fatah, which is expected to occur at a mini-summit in Doha in the near future.


/HurriyetDailynews/