Israel will pay 20 million dollars (18 million euros) to the families of ten Turks killed in the assault against the Mavi Marmara ship in 2010 as part of a reconciliation agreement to be signed on Tuesday, announced Prime Minister Binali Yildirim Turkish.
The two states also will share “in the shortest possible time” ambassadors, he said Monday at a press conference in Ankara, hailing an “important step” towards normalization after six years of estrangement.
He also announced that Turkey would carry on Friday, “more than 10,000 tons of humanitarian assistance” from the Turkish port of Mersin (south) to the Israeli port of Ashdod for the Palestinians of the Gaza Strip under Israeli blockade.
“It took us so many years to prepare this agreement (…) Our relations are normalized with this text,” further stated Mr. Yildirim.
Ankara was a key regional ally Israel until the 2000s.
But their relations have deteriorated then, before being reduced drastically in 2010 in response to the assault by Israeli commandos against the Mavi Marmara, a ship chartered by a Turkish humanitarian NGOs to try to break the blockade Israel in Gaza. This had resulted in the deaths of 10 Turks.
Israel apologized in 2013 but tensions had resurfaced the following year with a new Israeli offensive in the Gaza Strip.