Turkey urges ties thawing with Israel ahead of energy deal resumption

Turkey is not indifferent to Israeli projects in transferring the Eastern Mediterranean natural gas and oil to the international markets, Turkish Energy Minister Taner Yildiz said Tuesday, adding that those sources would not be feasible as long as they are not transferred through Turkey.But the minister stressed that before any pipeline project could go ahead, Israel would have to meet Ankara's demands for normalization of relations which worsened over an Israeli raid on a Gaza-bound Turkish ship "Mavi Marmara" in 2010."As relations between Turkey and Israel normalize in the future, then we can discuss if natural gas could be transferred through Turkey," Minister Yildiz told reporters.Ties between Israel and Turkey strained since Mavi Marmara incident with Ankara demanding a formal apology and compensation for the families of the victims.Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu offered an apology to his Turkish counterpart Recep Tayyip Erdogan in March 22 in order to put relations back on track.Turkish and Israeli officials will meet on April 12 in Turkey for talks over compensation for the deadly 2010 flotilla raid.