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Ankara
(ANTARA News/Reuters) - Turkey`s prime minister said on Friday it was
"unthinkable" to normalise ties with Israel unless it apologised for
a bloody raid on a Turkish ship bound for Gaza last year and lifted a blockade
on the Palestinian territory.
In a speech
to parliament to unveil his new government`s programme, Prime Minister Tayyip
Erdogan gave no sign of softening its terms, although there have been reports
in recent weeks that the two sides have been holding secret talks to mend
fences.
Ankara has
repeatedly demanded Israel apologise and pay compensation for the killing of
nine pro-Palestinian Turkish activists when Israeli marines seized a Turkish
ship bound for the coastal strip last year.
"Normalisation
of relations between the two countries is unthinkable unless Israel apologises
for this illegal act which is against all international law and values, pays
compensation to the relatives of those who lost their lives in this atrocious
event and lifts the embargo on Gaza," Erdogan said, to the applause of his
AK Party lawmakers.
An Israeli
official told Reuters on Thursday a U.N. report on the seizure was due to be
published on July 27, after delays to enable further talks between Israel and
Turkey.
The
official, speaking on condition of anonymity, declined to discuss the findings
of the committee set up by U.N. Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon and chaired by
former New Zealand premier Geoffrey Palmer, saying only that they had been
finalised.
But Israeli
Finance Minister Yuval Steinitz said earlier that previous drafts of the Palmer
report indicated the panel would rule mostly in favour of Israel.
"From
what we understand, the report justifies the (Gaza) blockade. It says the
blockade is legitimate, that Israel took legitimate steps," Steinitz, who
sits in Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu`s eight-member inner council, told
reporters.
Erdogan,
who won re-election last month, said in his speech on Friday that Turkey will
be "closely following" all international investigations into the
raid.
Israel says
the blockade is warranted to prevent arms reaching the Gaza Strip`s ruling
Hamas Islamists, who are hostile to the Jewish state.
Palestinians
and their supporters, including Turkey, see it as illegal pressure on the
heavily aid-dependent coastal strip.
Editor: B Kunto Wibisono
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