Monday, May 27, 2013

Surprise: Israel - Turkey talks break down over 'scope of [Mavi Marmara] compensation'

ISRAEL MATZAV, by Carl in Jerusalem ... May 27, 2013 Monday
I'm sure you'll all be shocked to hear that reconciliation talks between Israel and Turkey have broken down over the scope of compensation to the families of the IHH terroristsaboard the Mavi Marmara. 
Reconciliation talks between Israel and Turkey have reached an impasse over the sum Israel is to pay in compensation to the families of the Turkish nationals killed and wounded in the May 2010 raid on a Gaza-bound flotilla, a senior official in Jerusalem said Monday.
Despite three rounds of talks, the gaps remain very wide, he said.
After Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu apologized to Turkish Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan on March 22 for the killing of nine Turkish nationals by Israel Defense Forces soldiers during the raid on the Mavi Marmara, the two countries began talks to come to a compensation arrangement and to normalize ties. The first round of talks took place in Ankara on April 22, while the second took place in Jerusalem on May 6.
At the end of the Jerusalem meeting, the parties issued a communiqué, saying that there was a draft agreement but that “several clarifications regarding a few issues,” were still needed. The clarifications, it emerged, related to the central issue of how much compensation Israel would pay.

...

The official refused to cite specific sums each party had discussed during the talks. Haaretz, however, has learned that while Israel is prepared to pay $100,000 to each family, the Turks are demanding $1,000,000 per family. 
And if Israel had been willing to pay $1 million, the Turks would have demanded $10 million.

I think this was inevitable. 

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