TURKISH prosecutors asked a criminal court yesterday to drop charges against Israeli military and spy chiefs over the deadly 2010 attack on a cruise ship carrying aid to the beseiged Gaza Strip.

The charges were dropped as Turkey and Israel restored diplomatic relations for the first time since the criminal attack in which Israeli commandoes murdered 10 Turkish activists.

Under a conciliation deal reached this year, Israel agreed to pay £16 million in compensation to the victims or their relatives.

Istanbul Chief Public Prosecutor’s Office sought nine aggravated life sentences for then Israeli Chief of Staff Rau Aluf Gabriel Ashkenazi, naval forces commander Elizer Alfred Marom, intelligence head Amos Yadlin and air force commander Avishay Levi for instigating homicide.

They faced up to 18,000 years in jail for those charges and others including robbery, plunder and torture.

New Israeli ambassador Eitan Naeh arrived in Ankara on Thursday, while his Turkish counterpart Kemal Okem is expected to take up his post in Tel Aviv on December 2.

Palestinian Authority President Mahmoud Abbas told his Fatah party’s congress in Ramallah on Wednesday that Israel had shown it was not serious about peace.

He said the recognition of Israel as a Jewish state must be reciprocated by recognition of Palestine.

He reiterated plans to use east Jerusalem, illegally occupied by Israel, as the country’s capital, saying: “We want it to be open for worship for the followers of the three monotheistic religions.”

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