Talks with Israel to not change Turkey's Gaza stand: PM

ANKARA

Turkey will not make any concessions over its demand for compensation and lifting of inhumane restrictions on the Gaza Strip as talks continue with Israel to normalize bilateral ties, Turkish Prime Minister Ahmet Davutoglu assured Tuesday.

In remarks made during the Justice and Development (AK) Party's parliamentary group meeting in Ankara Tuesday, Davutoglu said: “Our position is the same from the beginning and will be the same tomorrow. Turkey is persistent over its demand for compensation and lifting of inhumane embargo and restrictions imposed by Israel on the Gaza Strip”.

Israel has maintained a tight blockade of the Gaza Strip since 2007, when Palestinian group Hamas took over control of the territory, a move which has ravaged its economy and shaved off around 50 percent off its Gross Domestic Product.

About the talks with Israel, Davutoglu said they were still ongoing.

Ankara cut diplomatic relations with Tel Aviv in 2010 after Israeli naval forces raided a Turkish aid ship that was bringing humanitarian supplies to the Israeli-blockaded Gaza Strip.

The “Gaza Freedom Flotilla” expedition in May 2010 ended in tragedy after Israeli commandos killed nine Turkish nationals and an American of Turkish origin in a raid in international waters on the flotilla ship, Mavi Marmara. Another person died in a Turkish hospital in 2014 after being in coma for almost four years.

In order to restore diplomatic ties, Turkey demanded an apology from Israel, compensation for the families of those killed in the attack and the lifting of Israel’s eight-year blockade of Gaza.

The first of these conditions was fulfilled in 2013 when Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu apologized for the attack to then Prime Minister and current President Recep Tayyip Erdogan.

Davutoglu in his remarks also addressed Turkey’s deployment of soldiers and tanks to Bashiqa Camp near Iraq’s Mosul.

The premier said that Turkey’s deployment to Bashiqa was no threat to Iraq’s territorial integrity.

“Our soldiers act in a respectful way to Iraq’s territorial integrity,” he said, adding that they will remain vigilant to any terrorist threat to Turkish presence in Mosul.

Turkey stationed 150 soldiers and up to 25 tanks at Bashiqa to protect Turkish servicemen training Iraqi volunteers to fight Daesh. However, Ankara re-deployed its soldiers after Baghdad’s complaints.

Also, Davutoglu condemned Russia over its airstrikes in Syria, which he said was causing the deaths of civilians.

"In recent Russian air campaigns, only 391 out of 4,198 sorties targeted Daesh positions," he said, adding that Daesh gained where moderate forces lost power due to the Russian strikes.

Russia began its air campaign in Syria on Sept. 30 with the aim of supporting the embattled regime of Bashar al-Assad.

Davutoglu highlighted that after Russia's involvement hundreds of civilians had been killed in its bombardment in northern Syria.

Syria has been gripped by violence since the regime launched a crackdown in response to anti-government protests in March 2011, triggering a civil war in which more than 250,000 people have died, according to UN figures.

The conflict displaced half the population, with some four million Syrians seeking refuge in neighboring countries, mostly in Turkey, Lebanon, Jordan and Iraq.