Turkey president approves landmark normalization deal with Israel

Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan on Wednesday signed a normalization deal with Israel, which was recently passed by parliament, state-run Anadolu Agency reported.

According to a statement issued by Turkish presidency's press office, Erdogan approved "the procedural agreement about compensation between the Republic of Turkey and Israeli State."

Under the deal, Israel will fund 20 million U.S. dollars in compensation for the families of the victims of an Israeli raid on a humanitarian aid ship in May 2010.

Turkey's parliament approved the normalization deal on August 20.

The agreement will come into force when both sides notify each other through diplomatic channels that the internal legal procedures have been fulfilled.

The deal is expected to restore diplomatic relations between the two countries, which will exchange ambassadors in the next few weeks, Daily Sabah reported.

Relations between Israel and Turkey soured following a deadly 2010 raid by an Israeli naval ship against a Turkish ship, the Mavi Marmara. The incident left 10 Turkish nationals dead.

Israel formally apologized in 2013 for what it called operational mistakes.

Source : XINHUA