Turkish Foreign Minister Ahmet Davutoglu said Israel has not yet fulfilled all conditions for a normalization of the ties with his country.
Relations between the former regional allies soured dramatically after Israeli commandos stormed in May 2010 the Navi Marmara, a pro-Palestinian ship trying to break the naval blockade of the Gaza Strip. The raid killed eight Turks.
Under a US-brokered rapprochement in March, Israel apologized to Turkey for the deaths and agreed to pay compensation to the families, launching a series of talks with Turkish officials on the framework of a deal.
Other issues under discussion were an Israeli demand that various criminal lawsuits against Israel Defense Forces (IDF) officers and Israel officials over the incident be dropped.
While acknowledging that there has ben some progress in the relations between the two countries, the minister told a press conference in New York on the sidelines of the UN General Assembly that there are three conditions that are important to Turkey.
He said two have not been fulfilled yet, compensation to victims of the attack and ending Israeli restrictions "against Palestine."
The Hamas-run Gaza Strip has been under a blockade since 2007, after the terrorist group violently took control of the territory from Fatah. The blockade was confirmed legal in 2011 by a UN panel charged with investigating the restrictions.
“Israel faces a real threat to its security from militant groups in Gaza,’’ the report said in its opening paragraphs. “The naval blockade was imposed as a legitimate security measure in order to prevent weapons from entering Gaza by sea and its implementation complied with the requirements of international law.’’
Davutoglu said Turkey was very concerned about the humanitarian situation in the Palestinian territories, especially in Gaza, following recent developments in Egypt.
Egypt has recently closed its border with the Gaza Strip on several occasions and the army has destroyed smuggling tunnels to Gaza.