Obama urges Israel and Turkey to 'do everything' to repair ties

U.S. President Barack Obama has urged Turkey and Israel to "do everything they can to repair their relations", in an interview published Sunday by the Turkish newspaper Hurriyet. Obama called the U.S.' own ties with Turkey "more important than ever", emphasizing that "our shared interests, our shared values... undergird our relationship even when we disagree." Relations between the two allies took a dip last June, when Turkey voted against a new round of UN sanctions on Iran over its contentious nuclear program. Turkey wanted to push forth a deal it and Brazil had worked out with Tehran for a nuclear fuel swap. Those tensions came as Turkey's relations with Israel, once a close ally, began spiraling further down a path that had begun with the Israel Defense Forces' raid on the Gaza Strip two winters ago. In May, Israel Navy commandos raided a Gaza-bound flotilla flagged with a Turkish flag and killed nine activists on board. This set of a near freezing of ties between Israel and Turkey, who insisted that the prior apologize for the incident and compensate the families of the victims. Although tensions have not yet ameliorated, Turkey's assistance of Israel during the ravaging Carmel fire earlier this month has given some sign that reparation is possible. In the wake of that, the two sides began negotiating a settlement over the flotilla incident. But it was reported last week that the negotiations have become deadlocked because of Israel's refusal to apologize for the killings of the activists and Turkey's refusal to promise to abstain from legal action against Israeli soldiers and declare that the soldiers acted in self-defense. An Israeli official told Haaretz that the talks last week that the talks were "stuck" and that "differences are still great." Nonetheless, he said it is still early to declare the talks dead and expects further discussions very soon. According to previously published reports, Israel has offered $100,000 to each Turkish family that lost a family member during the takeover of the Mavi Marmara. Turkish Foreign Minister Ahmet Davutoglu, however, called these figures "pure speculation." A senior Turkish source told Haaretz that the disagreement now revolves over the wording of the Israeli apology and not the issue of compensation. "Turkey and Israel are both key allies of the United States," Obama said in his interview with Hurriyet. "I encourage both nations to do everything they can to repair their relations." ( 21,09)