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Turkey’s Prime Minister Recep Tayip Erdogan on Wednesday said it was not possible for Israeli-Turkish ties to normalize unless Tel Aviv apologizes to Ankara for the deaths of nine Turkish nationals aboard the Gaza-bound Mavi Marmara aid ship and ends the embargo on Gaza. The remarks came after an Israeli official said earlier in the day that Israel’s Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has told the US on Wednesday that Tel Aviv refuses any apology to Ankara over the incident. According to the official, the decision was taken days before the release of the findings of the UN’s Palmer Report on the incident.
