Netanyahu offers condolences to Erdogan

Israeli Prime Minister Binyamin Netanyahu phoned his Turkish counterpart Recep Tayyip Erdogan on Monday and offered condolences over the deadly earthquake that took place in eastern province of Van Sunday, Anadolu Agency reported.

At least 279 people were killed while 1,300 were wounded in the earthquake.

Relations between Turkey and Israel -- two strategic and military partners -- worsened after Israeli naval attacks on the "Flotilla of Freedom" carrying humanitarian aid to Gaza on May 31. Nine Turks fell victim to a confrontation between Israeli soldiers and international human rights activists on the Turkish ship.

Ankara later demanded that Israel issue an official apology, order an independent international investigation, and pay compensation. However, Tel Aviv stated that it will not apologize. The diplomatic relations between Turkey and Israel passed on the secondary level. Moreover, Ankara has frozen its military cooperation with Tel Aviv and recalled its ambassador.


/Trend/