Hurriyet Daily News published an article by Murat Yetkin headlined 'Erdoğan will go to Gaza, but how?' "After accepting Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s apology for the killing of nine Turks on their way to Gaza in 2010, thanks to the personal mediation of U.S. President Barack Obama, Turkish Prime Minister Tayyip Erdoğan has added a Gaza visit to his travel plans, in order to make the point that Turkey will not allow the Palestinians to live in isolation," the article reads.
"It will certainly be flattering for Khaled Meshaal, the re-elected leader of Hamas, to host Erdoğan there. But it will possibly be not so pleasant for Mahmoud Abbas, as the Fatah President of the Palestinian state divided into two between Gaza and Ramallah, the West Bank," Yetkin writes.
"During the recent Arab League summit in Doha on March 26-27, Abbas casually asked a question to Turkish Foreign Minister Ahmet Davutoğlu about whether Erdoğan would visit Gaza, and if so, when. Davutoğlu’s reply was that no study had yet been done to clarify that," the article reads.
"On the other hand, there is a calendar and a set of circumstances that don’t make a visit to Gaza very easy. First of all, Turkey and Israel are expected to start compensation talks next week, on April 11 and 12, in Turkey, to establish the amounts to be paid to the families of the victims killed by Israeli commandoes on board the Mavi Marmara boat. Then, proceedings to upgrade diplomatic relations back to the level of appointing reciprocal ambassadors will start."
"And there are also geographical restrictions. If Erdoğan would like to go to Gaza, without touching Israeli soil, there are only two ways: One is the Mavi Marmara route, the sea way, which is not likely. The other is the Refah border gate between Gaza and Egypt, taking the example of the Arab League that visited Gaza in November 2012; Erdoğan would then have to go to Egypt first," the author writes.
"A third option would be to visit Israel and both Palestinian territories together," the author writes. "This option could be the most favorable, not only for the U.S., but for the Palestinians and the Israelis as well. It will be interesting diplomacy to watch."
