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Turkish, Israeli diplomats seek proper wording before Mavi Marmara report comes out
The diplomats are working on a statement to replace an official report that is expected to be released on Thursday and that will most likely blame each side for wrongdoings. Nine civilians were killed during a lethal Israeli raid on the Mavi Marmara ship, which was carrying humanitarian aid to Gaza to breach what organizers called “Israel's illegal naval blockade.”
Turkey demands an official apology and compensation for the families of the victims. Israel says its soldiers acted in self-defense.
Israeli sources said the meetings between the two sides started Tuesday evening in New York, during which the Turkish side is being represented by Foreign Ministry Undersecretary Feridun Sinirlioğlu, Ambassador Mithat Rende and the Turkish member of a United Nations panel investigating Israel's deadly May 31 commando raid of the flotilla, retired Ambassador Özdem Sanberk. On the Israeli side, there are higher-level officials, including Moshe Ya'alon, Israel's vice premier and minister of strategic affairs.
The news that the two sides would meet in New York was first disclosed by Israel's Haaretz daily, which reported based on the statements of an Israeli diplomat that the United States pressured Ankara and Tel Aviv to find a compromise before the announcement of the UN report. The same diplomatic source said that if a compromise cannot be reached, Turkey-Israeli relations would be suspended for some time and that the report would come out as it has already been worded. The same source stated that “if the report is announced as it is, everybody would lose.”
Meanwhile, a report on Ynet said that if there is a compromise, the Turkish side would give up its insistence on an apology from Israel for the deaths of nine Turks and as a response Israel would remove wording from the report that makes Turkey uncomfortable. However, the Turkish side told Today's Zaman, “Our stance and demands are clear.”
According to a Jerusalem Post news report from Wednesday, Israeli government officials are speculating about another option, issuing a statement that would replace the upcoming report. The statement, the report noted, “would not dwell on what happened last May but rather how to get over the incident and move forward.”
The report said that Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said in a private meeting on Monday that it was “too early to tell” if there is a turning point in relations with Turkey. He said, however, that the potential for change existed.
Israeli diplomatic sources told the Israeli daily that dramatic changes in the region that have fundamentally altered Turkey's strategic calculus -- from the turmoil in Syria and Libya, to the less than warm embrace of Turkey by Egypt -- are also forcing Turkey to rethink its policies toward Israel.
Last August, United Nations Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon appointed a panel headed by former New Zealand Prime Minister Geoffrey Palmer to look into the incident. The panel also included former Colombian President Alvaro Uribe as well as Turkish and Israeli representatives.
Ban never publicly set a deadline for it to complete its work, although UN officials had originally hoped it might do so first in February and then in April. Diplomats and UN officials have said the panel has been held up by disputes between its Turkish and Israeli members. UN spokesman Martin Nesirky suggested in May that the group might not be able to produce a consensus document.
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