NEW ADVENTURES OF THE FLOTILLA

In his message to the head of the Turkish government, Recep Tayyip Erdogan, Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu noted the desire of Israel to restore friendly relations with Ankara. Congratulating him on the victory of his Justice and Development Party in the recent parliamentary elections, Netanyahu said: "My government will be pleased to cooperate with the new Turkish government in finding solutions to pressing problems between our countries. We hope to restore cooperation and renew the spirit of friendship and partnership that has characterized the relationship between our two peoples for generations."

Turkey, for its part, does not mind making peace with Israel. This, in particular, was stated by Turkish Foreign Minister Ahmet Davutoglu. This mutual aspiration of Ankara and Tel Aviv results from closed bilateral talks, details of which were leaked to the world media. But, apparently, their different assessment of last year's tragedy in the Mediterranean Sea remains a stumbling block to rapprochement between the two countries. As a result of Israel's special operation against the Freedom Flotilla carrying humanitarian aid to the Gaza Strip last year, nine Turkish citizens were killed.

It is reported that after a series of talks with senior Turkish officials in Geneva, Israel's Deputy Prime Minister Moshe Ya'alon said that his country was prepared to express official condolences and pay monetary compensation to the families of victims killed during the assault on the Turkish ship "Mavi Marmara". At the same time, Israel refuses to offer a public apology for the murder of Turkish citizens, i.e. to do what Ankara wants. Tel Aviv motivates its position by the fact that the Turkish charity fund, whose activists were killed, has close ties with militants of the Hamas and Hezbollah movements, which Israel considers terrorist organizations.

The attempt to normalize Turkish-Israeli relations is also intriguing due to the organization of a new voyage by the Freedom Flotilla to the coast of blockaded Gaza. It is noteworthy that the "Mavi Marmara", which was the flagship of the flotilla last year, will not be participating in the new humanitarian mission. The Turkish ship is not involved in the current campaign for technical reasons, according to an official explanation. Thus, the organizers of Freedom Flotilla 2 are trying to prove that the very humanitarian movement, which seeks to break Israel's naval blockade of the Palestinian territories, is not just a "Turkish and Islamist" venture.

Indeed, the majority of participants in the current flotilla represent European countries and the USA. Overall, the "flotilla", as suggested by its organizers, will carry hundreds of peace activists from 40 countries. In any case, the Turkish foundation, whose work is so strongly criticized by Israel, is one of the most active participants in Freedom Flotilla 2.

To avoid a repeat of last year's sad events, Flotilla activists are keeping their mission in strict secrecy. Apparently, the ships will set off from different ports in different countries - especially Turkey and Greece. Media reports show that the first ship of the Freedom Flotilla to set off to the shores of the Gaza Strip from a Greek port is a French vessel.

Meanwhile, the European campaign for the lifting of the blockade of Gaza has accused Israeli security forces of trying to wreck the ships of the flotilla. In particular, they are accused of breaking the engine of an Irish ship, which is part of the humanitarian mission, in a Turkish port.

The government of Israel has decided to prevent the ships of Freedom Flotilla 2 from breaking the blockade of the Palestinian enclave and delivering a batch of humanitarian aid to its territory. The country's military command has warned that if Israeli military forces are in danger and decide that there is a threat to their lives, "they will be forced to respond".

There is no doubt that the prospect of another attempt to restore the partnership between Israel and Turkey will depend on the current international mission to deliver humanitarian aid to Gaza. If the Israelis' attempt to prevent the passage of the Freedom Flotilla to Gaza results in a tragedy similar to last year's events, it will definitely have a very negative effect on the possibility of restoring the previous strategic partnership between Ankara and Tel Aviv. It will be possible to talk about a complete rupture in Turkish-Israeli relations if Turkish rights campaigners suffer from the planned Tzahal action, as the military leadership of Israel warned, even if they, according to Tel Aviv, are linked to radical Arab groups.

Much more optimistic prospects can open in relations between Turkey and Israel if the humanitarian mission heading for the shores of Gaza ends peacefully. Maybe, the agreement between the governments of Israel and Egypt, which, apparently, can provide an opportunity for the peaceful resolution of the situation, deserves special attention in this sense. Tel Aviv and Cairo have agreed that the ships of the Flotilla will be allowed to unload in the Egyptian port of El Arish. The ships will be searched there and the passengers will be checked by representatives of the Egyptian authorities. The humanitarian aid of the Flotilla will be transported to Gaza by land. However, if after that the ships try to break into Gaza, they will be intercepted by the Israeli navy and towed to Ashdod.

Meanwhile, the report of the UN commission investigating the seizure of the "Mavi Marmara" caused an ambiguous response. The body, headed by New Zealand's former Prime Minister Geoffrey Palmer, laid much of the responsibility on Turkey. Although Israel's actions were characterized as excessive, the report states that Ankara did nothing to prevent the journey of the Freedom Flotilla and even strongly supported it, though the Turkish authorities could not but realize how the whole thing could end. The report caused a backlash in Turkey, and therefore the danger of failure in the current rapprochement between Tel Aviv and Ankara is already looming. After all, for the latter, the death of Turkish citizens in a clash with Israeli special forces is a topic that directly affects the national dignity of the country.

In a broader sense, all these events are, of course, linked with a Middle East settlement, the main characteristics of which at this stage are the formation of a unified Palestinian government and the prospect of the UN recognition of the Palestinian state. Ankara is actively involved in both processes: it promotes and mediates the formation of a new Palestinian government (as evidenced by the simultaneous visits to Turkey by the president of the Palestinian National Authority and Fatah leader, Mahmud Abbas, and Hamas leader Khaled Meshaal) and insists on the international recognition of the Palestinian state.

Azerbaijan is also in favour of the recognition of an independent Palestine by the UN. During his visit to Baku, the head of the Palestinian Authority, Mahmud Abbas, officially opened an embassy of the Palestinian state in our country. Azerbaijani President Ilham Aliyev gave assurances that Azerbaijan supports, and will support, in all international organizations the position according to which an independent state of Palestine with its capital in East Jerusalem will soon be established.

It should be noted that the visit by the leader of the Palestinian Authority to Baku coincided with the opening in Astana of the 38th session of the Foreign Ministers' Council of the Organization of Islamic Cooperation (the forum of the Organization of the Islamic Conference decided to rename the OIC). From the rostrum of this authoritative body, Azerbaijani Foreign Minister Elmar Mammadyarov supported the aspirations of the Palestinian people to establish an independent state with its capital in East Jerusalem. At the same time, he thanked the Islamic world for its support for Azerbaijan in the armed conflict with Armenia and expressed the hope that Muslim countries, including Palestine, will support the candidacy of our country as a non-permanent member of the UN Security Council in 2012-2013.

In general, Azerbaijan stands for peace in the Holy Land and seeks to strengthen relations with both Palestine and Israel, which is one of the closest strategic partners of our country.