Turkey-Israel talks going well, no deal yet: Turkish official

Talks between Turkey and Israel to restore ties are going well but no deal has yet been reached, Turkey's ruling Justice and Development Party (AKP) spokesman Omer Celik said on Thursday.

"We have information that the discussions are going well but unless we see practical implications of the talks, we cannot say it's a done deal," Celik told reporters after a recent meeting between Turkish and Israeli officials in Geneva, aiming to mend ties between two countries.

Turkish Foreign Ministry Undersecretary Feridun Sinirlioglu and Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu's envoy Joseph Ciechanover met in Switzerland on Wednesday for the normalization of diplomatic relations, Turkish private television channel NTV reported late Wednesday.

The meeting came a day after Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan met U.S. Jewish leaders on Tuesday.

Ties between the two countries, once close, deteriorated in 2010 when Israeli commandos raided the Turkish-flagged Mavi Marmara, the largest ship in an aid flotilla which tried to break the Israeli blockade on the Gaza Strip.

Nine Turks died in the incident and one more died in the hospital after four years in a coma.

Following the assault, the two countries demoted the level of their diplomatic relations, as Turkey expelled the Israeli ambassador in Ankara on September 2011.

Last December, Israeli and Turkish officials reached a preliminary agreement to normalize relations, including returning ambassadors to both countries, as Israel agreed to pay 20 million U.S. dollars as compensation for Mavi Marmara victims. Endit