Details have emerged of the Turkish-Israeli agreement on normalizing relations.
The preliminary agreement was signed by Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and Foreign Ministry Undersecretary Feridun Sinirlioglu in Switzerland.
According to the agreement:
1. Israel is to pay 20 million dollars for a fund for victims’ families
2. The embassies will be reopened and the summoned ambassadors will be sent to the embassies again
3. Turkey will pass a law dropping legal proceedings against Israeli officials
4. Turkey will deport a leading member of Hamas, Saleh al-Aruri, who is charged with the kidnap and murder of three Israeli officers.
5. The two sides will hold discussions on gas and will begin to cooperate after the signing of the agreement. A pipeline will be constructed to deliver to Israeli gas to Turkey and Europe.
Note that, cordial relations turned to ashes in May 2010 when a flotilla left Turkey for Gaza, ostensibly to bring relief, but some of the boats carried militant activists more interested in protest. When Israeli soldiers boarded the flotilla to turn it back, violence ensued, and 10 Turks lost their lives.
(APA)
