Between the ongoing feud with Russia and heightening tensions with Iraq, Turkey has been hitting the headlines a lot recently. This week, Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan drove his country into the news again over a potential change in policy with another Middle Eastern country—Israel.
The Times of India reports the Turkish leader told reporters during a flight back from Turkmenistan that "there [was] so much the region could gain" from "normalization with Israel."
The two countries have not always been at odds. Relations soured officially in 2010, when Israeli forces shot at a flotilla headed for Gaza and killed 9 Turkish citizens onboard. Since then, Erdogan has been a vocal critic of Israel's military action in Gaza, especially during the last offensive there in the summer of 2014.
Erdogan said the normalization process could only begin after a compensation deal was reached for the victims of the 2010 raid and the blockade on Gaza was lifted. But the Turkish leader's comments could also have something to do with recent hits to Turkey's economy.
After the Russian jet downing last month—when Turkish F-16s shot down a Russian jet after claiming it had crossed into their airspace—Ankara faces potential financial stress. In the wake of the incident, Moscow has stalled Turkish imports to Russia, threatened to stop exporting fuel to Turkey and called on all Russian nationals to halt tourism plans there.
