Zionist and Turkish officials are discussing compensation for victims of a 2010 raid on a Gaza-bound flotilla. On Sunday, US Secretary of State John Kerry asked Turkey’s premier to postpone a trip to the Gaza Strip.

Zionist and Turkish officials are discussing compensation for victims of a 2010 raid on a Gaza-bound flotilla. On Sunday, US Secretary of State John Kerry asked Turkey's premier to postpone a trip to the Gaza Strip.

Negotiators met in the Turkish capital of Ankara Monday for talks amid hopes this will help start the process of restoring full diplomatic relations. Turkey has said this would depend on compensation and on the Zionist easing restrictions on Palestinians.

Turkish Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan had been planning a trip to the Gaza Strip in May. However, Kerry asked him on Sunday to forgo the trip, saying it could distract from the “Israeli-Palestinian peace process.”

"We thought that the timing of it is really critical with respect to the peace process we are trying to get off the ground, and we would like to see the parties begin with as little outside distraction as possible," Kerry said.

Although the Zionist entity and Turkey were once close allies, their relations plummeted in the aftermath of the 2010 raid by Zionist commandos on a Gaza-bound flotilla in which nine Turkish nationals were killed.

The vessel, bound for the embargoed Gaza Strip, was in international waters at the time of the attack.

Last month, the Zionist side finally made a formal apology for the raid, a move strongly encouraged by US President Barack Obama.

For their part, families of the raid victims on Saturday spoke out against compensation talks between Turkey and the Zionist entity, saying the latter must first fully lift its blockade of the Gaza Strip.
 
The relatives of the nine activists killed on board the Gaza-bound ship in 2010 also said they would not drop lawsuits filed against former Zionist military commanders they hold responsible.