In Middle East Kerry pushes for Turkey-Israel rapprochement

Secretary of State John Kerry is in the Middle East exploring options for renewed peace efforts. On Sunday, he urged Turkey and Israel to normalize relations, which broke down after Turks were killed in an Israeli raid on a Gaza-bound flotilla in 2010.

By Matthew Lee,?Associated Press / April 21, 2013

US Secretary of State John Kerry gestures during a news conference in Istanbul April 21. On Sunday Kerry urged Turkey to speed up and cement an American-brokered rapprochement with Israel.

Evan Vucci/Reuters

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US Secretary of State John Kerry on Sunday urged Turkey to speed up and cement an American-brokered rapprochement with Israel, and he explored with Palestinian officials new ways to relaunch Mideast peace efforts.

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Those are second-term foreign policy priorities for President Barack Obama, and Kerry tried to advance them in meetings with Turkey's foreign minister, Ahmet Davutoglu, and the Palestinian Authority president, Mahmoud Abbas.

On a trip to Israel last month, Obama secured a pledge from Turkish and Israeli leaders to normalize ties that broke down after a 2010 Israeli raid on a Gaza-bound aid flotilla that killed eight Turks and a Turkish-American.

But the rapprochement has been slow, fueling concerns that Turkey may be backsliding on its commitment.

Israeli and Turkish negotiators plan to meet this coming week to discuss Turkey's demand for compensation for victims of the flotilla. US officials hope the discussions will jumpstart the process of restoring full diplomatic relations and exchanging ambassadors between two countries that Washington sees as vital strategic partners in the volatile Middle East.

The raid sparked throughout outrage in Muslim-majority Turkey, making it politically difficult for the prime minister, Recep Tayyip Erdogan, to bend to persistent US appeals to improve relations with Israel.

In March, Obama extracted an apology for the raid from Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu that broke the stalemate.

Kerry said he understood the anger and frustration of those Turks who lost friends and family in the raid. The former Massachusetts senator said last week's Boston Marathon bombings made him acutely aware of the emotions involved.

"We have just been through the week of Boston and I have deep feelings for what happens when you have violence, when something that happens when you lose people that are near and dear to you," he said. "It affects the community, it affects the country. But going forward, you know, we have to find the best way to bring people together and undo these tensions and undo these stereotypes and try to make peace."

Kerry said he had a "prolonged and constructive" discussion with Davutoglu, about "the importance of completing the task with respect to the renewal of relations between Turkey and Israel."

Kerry added that he believed Erdogan, whom he did not meet on this trip, and Davutoglu "are deeply committed to fulfilling all of the obligations of that understanding."

Erdogan plans to visit Obama at the White House on May 16, and US officials are keen to see substantive process by then. Kerry said Erdogan's visit "will be an important next step in this ongoing dialogue."

Source: http://rss.csmonitor.com/~r/feeds/csm/~3/JzPR6L5maZo/In-Middle-East-Kerry-pushes-for-Turkey-Israel-rapprochement

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