Erdogan confidant calls for ‘re-normalized’ ties with Israel

A close associated of Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan, Admiral Cihat Yayci, said in an interview Wednesday to the Turkish Jewish newspaper Şalom that “it is in the interests of both Turkey and Israel to re-normalize relations.”

Yayci called on Israel to take up the proposal of a shared maritime border, first reported by Israel Hayom on March 5. A more detailed version of the plan was published in the Turkeyscope monthly journal published by the Moshe Dayan Center at Tel Aviv University.

Yayci gave the interview after Turkey suffered another diplomatic blow when Egypt and Greece agreed this week to disagree about proposed areas for gas and oil drilling in the Mediterranean Sea.

This occurred five days after Turkish Foreign Minister Mevlüt Çavuşoğlu said that Turkey could reach an agreement with Egypt on a maritime border.

Greek Foreign Minister Nikos Dendias said that the dispute over one of Egypt’s three drilling areas was “technical” and had been resolved. According to reports, teams from Egypt met and re-drew maritime borders for the problematic area, a deal that directly affects Turkey, since the Turks claim ownership of the area delineated by Greece and Egypt.