Nine months have elapsed since Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu swallowed his pride and called Turkish Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan, under pressure from US President Barack Obama, to apologize for the Mavi Marmara raid in 2010, hoping this would help normalize ties with Turkey. That is yet to happen, however. Ankara’s resetting of its policies in the Middle East, in an attempt to regain lost influence in the region, does not appear to cover Israel yet.
Netanyahu’s apology, which had caught Ankara off guard, was considered a major concession for a politician known to be no less abrasive and stubborn than Erdogan. Relying on this breakthrough, diplomats believed Turkey would have to respond in kind, its principal demand over the Mavi Marmara incident having been met.
