Israel sees chance to mend fences with Turkey

Israel and Turkey have an opportunity to end a deep crisis in their ties following mutual gestures, Israel's deputy foreign minister Danny Ayalon was quoted as saying Friday. In an interview published in Turkey's Hurriyet Daily News paper, Ayalon highlighted a letter Israel's premier sent to his Turkish counterpart to congratulate him for his recent election win and a Turkish Islamist charity's decision not to send a ferry on a second mission to blockaded Gaza. "I believe what we have lost over the past few years is trust. Now we need to let go of this mutual blame game as to why this trust was lost. Political tensions in Turkey have been left behind following the elections," Ayalon said. "The fact that the Mavi Marmara (ferry) will not be coming is also a good opportunity for us to renew our ties. We should get together and speak about everything we need to speak about," he said. The one-time allies plunged into crisis in May last year when Israeli troops killed nine Turks in a raid on the Mavi Marmara, the lead ship of an international aid flotilla that attempted to break the blockade of Gaza. Relations had already been strained over Turkish Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan's frequent outbursts against Israel and his defence of Hamas, the radical group controlling Gaza. "The Israeli-Palestinian conflict and Hamas terror was added to our relations... Why should we subordinate our relations to a third party?" Ayalon said. He added however that Israel recognised Turkey as a "regional power" and would be happy if it could cajole Hamas into a peace deal with the Jewish state and reconcile Hamas with the Fatah faction of Palestinian leader Mahmud Abbas. "Palestinian unity is in our interests; that way we will know who to engage with. We would kiss the hands of each and every Turk if Hamas said they accept the Oslo (Treaty), condemn terror and recognize Israel," Ayalon said. Ayalon refused to either confirm or deny media reports of secret fence-mending talks with Turkey. He called on Ankara to make a gesture by sending back its ambassador to Tel Aviv, whom it recalled immediately after the Mavi Marmara bloodshed. "The letter sent to Prime Minister Erdogan could be seen as a confidence building measure. Another step might be to send the ambassador. We would welcome the ambassador that Turkey will appoint," he said.