Turkey announced that it was on the verge of reaching an agreement with Israel to restore ties after diplomats from both sides met in London on Friday morning.
“The teams made progress toward finalising the agreement and closing the gaps, and agreed that the deal would be finalised in the next meeting which will be convened very soon,” the Turkish foreign ministry said in a statement.
The two countries had an acrimonious split in 2010, when Israeli commandos raided a ship carrying supplies to Gaza, which was under blockade, killing 10 Turkish activists. The Ankara government withdrew its ambassador soon after.
Turkey has since demanded a formal apology for the deaths of its citizens, compensation for their families, and an end to the Israeli economic blockade of Gaza as preconditions for normalisation.
Israeli prime minister Benjamin Netanyahu apologised to his Turkish counterpart, Recep Tayyip Erdogan, in a phone call in 2013, but disagreements over the compensation and the Gaza blockade have held up a deal so far.
Neither side has signalled what a prospective deal agreement might entail. A Turkish foreign ministry official contacted on Friday declined to provide further comment.
Last week, Erdogan met Jewish leaders on the sidelines of a nuclear security summit in Washington.
One factor seen as driving the talks is energy. Amid an ongoing row with Russia, on which it depends for more than half of its natural gas imports, Turkey appears more eager than ever to find new suppliers, including Israel.
Earlier this week, the head of Turkish energy company Turcas Petrol announced that he and others were looking at establishing a consortium to bring Israeli offshore gas to Europe via Turkey. “Until now, at least 15 companies have contacted us to say they wanted to take part in a consortium,” Batu Aksoy said in an interview with a Turkish newspaper. “If the will and the political environment is in place, the gas may reach Turkey by 2021.”
Despite frayed diplomatic ties, trade between Turkey and Israel has expanded. In 2015, combined imports and exports reached a value of $4.4bn, up from $3.4bn in 2010.
