Israel and Turkey normalize relations: “The Leviathan field can supply gas needs for Egypt and also for Turkey and from there to Europe,” Israel’s Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said yesterday during the signing of a reconciliation agreement with Turkey. Energy issues aside, Netanyahu said the agreement signed with Recep Erdogan “is an agreement of strategic importance for the State of Israel… The agreement allows humanitarian treatment for the Gaza strip subject to security arrangements and that’s in Israel’s interest. In addition, the agreement prevents Hamas terror activities, political and military, on Turkish soil and that includes collecting money.” The agreement ends a six-year rift between the two counties and includes returning to full diplomatic representation.

…Erdogan’s reconciliation tour did not stop there, as he sent a letter to Russian President Vladimir Putin apologising “for the death of the Russian pilot who was killed when a Russian jet was downed over the Syrian-Turkish border last November,” RT reported, quoting a Kremlin statement. Russia is “a friend and a strategic partner” and Turkey “never had a desire or a deliberate intention to down an aircraft belonging to Russia,” the letter reportedly said.