"Obama government in favour of normalization of Turkish-Israeli relations"

The relations between Turkey and Israel were at the top of agenda during US President Barack Obama’s visit to the Middle East. Speaking to the Milliyet daily, a senior official from the Obama government said, "President Obama brought forward the Turkey issue in his meetings and made clear that the US values the strong relations both with Turkey and Israel. The President encourages Israel government to work towards the normalization of ties between the two countries. In response to a question whether the US will serve as a mediator between the two nations or not, the senior official recalled that there were such initiations in the past. "The Obama administration wants to help the normalization of relations, and close relations with the two sides could be advantage here" official said. Mark Regev, spokesman of Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, also made a statement prior to Obama’s visit, saying, "Israel is ready to repair its relations with Turkey. We hope that we will have the opportunity of changing the course of the process.