Four years ago 9 Turkish activists died in an incident that severed diplomatic relations between Israel and Turkey.
A Turkish flagged flotilla was heading for Gaza to deliver aid in breach of an Israeli embargo. Israeli commando’s then stormed the lead vessel in a bid to stop it making port.
Just recently a tenth person died in hospital after a prolonged coma.
Israel has since looked favourably at a compensation deal for the saga, but such an agreement appears on the rocks after a decision by Turkish courts to pursue four senior Israeli officials they deem responsible, most recently calling on Interpol to intervene.
Euronews spoke to the last Turkish ambassador to Israel on the continuing diplomatic spat:
“From Israel’s point of view the courts decision is the problem. But we should respect the courts decision. I believe that these two procedures, the legal case and normalisation must be separated”
Euronews reporter Bora Bayraktar, gave this insight from Istanbul:
“On the one hand there are politicians who seek a common ground, on the other there are activists seeking justice for their friends. In its fourth anniversary the flotilla incident is a great barrier to normalisation of Turkish-Israeli relations.”
