Turkey eases veto on NATO's partnership with Israel

Turkey partially revoked its veto on Israel's joining partnership programs within NATO, allowing the Jewish country to participate in the alliance's cooperation mechanisms but excluding joint military exercises, Turkey's daily Hurriyet reported Sunday. NATO, in return for Ankara's reconciliation, allowed similar partnership mechanisms with Tunisia, Jordan, Egypt and countries in the Balkans for 2013, a Turkish diplomat told Xinhua Sunday. Turkey has been against Israel's participation in NATO's partnership programs after the Jewish country killed nine Turks in a raid on Mavi Marmara aid ship, which tried to break the blockade on Gaza in 2010. The Turkish government vetoed Israel's participation in the joint air drills in its central Konya province last year, and prevented Israel from attending a NATO summit held in Chicago in May 2012. Turkey also rejected any meeting in which Turkish military officials will come together with their Israeli counterparts. Turkey conditions apology, compensation for families of the Mavi Marmara raid victims, and lifting Israeli blockade on the Gaza Strip for the normalization of relations with the Jewish state.