According to a statement by a senior Israeli official to Turkey’s Jewish community newspaper Salom, after Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu returns from Japan on Friday, the agreement with Turkey will be signed and relations between the two countries will return to normal as soon as possible.

As Salom reported, when Netanyahu signs the agreement, the four-year deadlock between the two countries, which began with the Israeli attack in May 2010 on the Mavi Marmara ferryboat trying to break the blockade of Gaza, will end. Turkey’s Foreign Minister Ahmet Davutoglu said last week that questions between the two countries have mostly been resolved.

In a news conference, Davutoglu said, “Officials are continuing their discussions. I want to emphasize that positive developments have been achieved.” According to the agreement, Israel will pay $21 million to the families of Turkish nationals killed in the attack. The money will be first deposited with a charity organization and then distributed to the families. Turkey will then make the necessary legal arrangements to terminate the court cases brought against Israeli soldiers. After signing the agreement, the ambassadors of both countries are expected to return to their posts.

While official contacts continue to determine what kind of road map Turkey and Israel, once close allies, will follow in coming days, academic circles and civil society organizations try to contribute to these contacts. On May 8-9, there was a series of round table meetings of Turkish and Israeli diplomats, academics and journalists organized by the Center for Global Political Trends (GPOT) of Istanbul's Kultur University and by the Israeli think tank Regional Policies Institute (MITVIM). The main theme was ''The Status of Turkey-Israel Relations From a Regional Perspective," to discuss what steps can be taken to repair the relations.