The Israel Law Center (ILC), a Tel Aviv-based non-governmental organization, is claimed to have sent the International Criminal Court the full version of the document of a reconciliation agreement, which was signed between Turkey and Israel in June 2016, six years after the Israeli military operation, the Gaza flotilla raid, that killed 10 Turks.
According to a report by BBC Turkish, in addition to the publicly declared 6 articles of the agreement, the Israeli center has sent a new document to the international court, disclosing 5 other articles with regards to the agreement dated June 28, 2016 to put an end to the “diplomatic crisis” ignited by the Israeli military operation that is also known as the Mavi Marmara incident in Turkey.
As the Turkish Foundation for Human Rights and Freedoms and Humanitarian Relief (İHH), a pro-government Islamist NGO, was carrying humanitarian aid and construction materials on 31 May, 2010 with the intention of breaking off the Israeli blockade of the Gaza Strip, Israel conducted a military operation against the flotilla and killed 10 Turkish activists, leading to the escalation of tensions between the two countries, which eventually led both countries to mutually withdraw their ambassadors for some years.
According to the recently disclosed articles of the document, the Turkish government would “exert efforts to expedite the conclusion of all pending national legal proceedings in Turkey relating to the flotilla incident”.
Yet another article states: “Turkey and Israel declare that they do not allow any terrorist or military activities against each other on or from their respective territories or provide support for such activities abroad. … such activities will not be initiated, planned, carried out, directed or financed from their respective territories by any organization or body towards each other.”
As the document notes, “Israel welcomes any cooperation with Turkey on projects for the benefit of the population in the Gaza Strip,” it states that the Turkish export of civilian goods and construction materials would enter the Gaza Strip. Accordingly, Turkey “would be able to transfer money to the Gaza Strip through the banks that are approved by Israel and the Palestinian Authority,” subject to Israel’s security considerations.
THE AFTERMATH OF “DIPLOMATIC CRISIS”
Despite the declared “diplomatic crisis” between Turkey and Israel, the Turkish government’s decision to suspend military and commercial ties with Israel or to impose trade sanctions were never put into practice, but instead, the trade volume between the two countries continued to grow for the six between 2010 and 2016, from the Mavi Marmara raid to the reconciliation agreement.
Contrary to his widely known anti-Israel rhetoric, Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan’s government stepped back and decided to sign this agreement with Israel in June 2016.
The agreement, according to which Israel accepted paying out $20 million to the Turkish government for the compensation of injured activists and the families of killed activists during the Israeli attack in 2010, was undersigned by both sides as "between Ankara and Jerusalem" instead of "between Ankara and Tel Aviv", partly recognizing Jerusalem as Israel’s capital city before the US announced in December 2017 to recognize the controversial city as the Israeli capital.
Although he had said “I have approved” the Turkish flotilla mission to the Gaza Strip with populist rhetoric just after the Israeli military raid, later Erdoğan contradicted himself by saying, “When you set sail you need to ask me. Did you ask the prime minister [me] before you embarked on a humanitarian mission from Turkey to Gaza?” blaming the Islamist foundation, İHH, for being behind the flotilla journey, after the two countries reached an agreement.
