Turkey has delayed the start of talks this week with the Zionist entity over compensation to be paid to victims of a deadly 2010 raid on a Gaza-bound flotilla.

Turkey has delayed the start of talks this week with the Zionist entity over compensation to be paid to victims of a deadly 2010 raid on a Gaza-bound flotilla, the government said.

"The compensation meeting with Israel has been delayed to April 21 or 22," Turkish Deputy Prime Minister Bulent Arinc told reporters after a weekly cabinet meeting late Monday.

Arinc, who was due to head the Turkish side during the talks, said the meetings had to be rescheduled because he would be accompanying Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan on a trip to Kyrgyzstan this week.

The news of the delay came a day after the victims of the raid said they would not withdraw their lawsuit against Zionist commanders despite the official Turkey-Zionist compensation talks.

Officials of both sides were originally scheduled to meet on April 12 for breakthrough negotiations over compensation for the raid, for which the Jewish state apologized last month.

Ties between the two governments hit an all-times low in May 2010 when Zionist commandos staged a pre-dawn raid on a six-ship flotilla to the Gaza Strip, killing nine Turkish nationalists.

The assault triggered an international outcry and severely damaged relations between Turkey and the entity of occupation, with Ankara demanding a formal apology and compensation for the families of the victims.

U.S. Secretary of State John Kerry, who visited Istanbul on Sunday, called on Turkey and the entity to fully normalize their ties.