Sopot, 05/09/2011 (Agence Europe) - A number of EU foreign ministers, meeting at the informal Council in Sopot (Poland) called on Saturday 3 September for Israel and Turkey to return to dialogue. Tension rose between the two after the publication of a UN-commissioned report on the Israeli navy raid on a flotilla carrying humanitarian aid to Gaza which cost the lives of nine Turkish citizens in May 2010.
“We, just like the UN Secretary General, wanted this dispute between Israel and Turkey to be settled through dialogue and mutual understanding and not by other means”, stated French Foreign Minister Alain Juppé. His German counterpart Guido Westerwelle called on Israel and Turkey to “resume dialogue”. He urged all parties to work to defuse the situation and for them to enter discussions rather than throwing oil on the fire. This message was delivered to Turkish Foreign Minister Ahmet Davutoglu, who attended the Gymnich meeting.
Once again, on Friday 2 September, Israel refused to apologise to Turkey for the raid, while Turkey announced the expulsion of Israeli Ambassador Gaby Levy and the suspension of bilateral military agreements. It said, too, that it was going to refer the matter to the International Court of Justice. After the incident, which took place in international waters, on 31 May 2010, Turkey recalled its ambassador to Israel. It has stated that bilateral relations had been irreparably damaged and several times asked for an Israeli apology. (V.W./transl.rt)