Turkish Official Rejects Israeli 'ex Gratia' Reparations

by Dan Lavie, News Agencies and Israel Hayom Staff

Turkish deputy prime minister says Israel must accept that it is paying the families of Turkish activists -- killed during a 2010 IDF raid on the Gaza-bound protest ship Mavi Marmara -- because the IDF acted illegally, not because of Israel's good will.

The Mavi Marmara docked at a port in Turkey | Photo credit: AP

Turkey is refusing to accept financial compensation from Israel, extended to the families of nine Turkish activists killed in a clash with IDF commandos in 2010, on the grounds that Israel views the compensation as a gesture of goodwill rather than an admission of guilt. 

Turkish Deputy Prime Minister Bulent Arınç on Wednesday called on Israel to recognize its mistake.

"The sum of money isn't the issue," he said. "Israel must accept that it is paying this money because of its unacceptable actions." 

Turkish website Hurriyet attributed the dead-end in reconciliation talks between the nations to Israel's insistence that it was paying reparations to the families of the nine Turkish victims out of good will, and not because IDF soldiers acted illegally on the Mavi Marmara. 

"In the first meeting, the Israelis didn't show any hesitance, but during the second meeting they started bandying about the idea of ex gratia payment for compensation, because they're concerned it would serve as a precedent for other cases unrelated to us," Arınç said. 

Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu called Turkish Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan in May to formally apologize for the deaths, which occurred aboard the Gaza-bound Turkish protest ship Mavi Marmara. During the conversation, Netanyahu apologized for any actions that led to a loss of life, and vowed to compensate victims' families. The two nations agreed to normalize relations, which had been frozen since the Mavi Marmara incident.

Dan Lavie, News Agencies and Israel Hayom Staff

Source: http://www.israelhayom.com/site/newsletter_article.php?id=10935

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