Turkey wants Israel apology

Turkey's foreign minister was quoted on Monday as saying that Ankara would cut ties with Israel unless it apologized or accepted an international inquiry into its deadly raid on a Turkish aid ship bound for Gaza. But a Turkish government official told Reuters the minister's words had been misrepresented. The official said Ankara's position was that it would be very difficult or impossible to repair bilateral ties with the Jewish state unless Ankara's previously stated demands were met. Israel said on Monday it had no intention of issuing a formal apology to Turkey. The public exchange between the two once close U.S. regional allies followed talks last week by Turkish and Israeli officials aimed at mending fences. "Israel has three paths ahead: It either apologizes, or accepts the findings from an international commission investigating the raid, or Turkey will cut off ties," Hurriyet daily quoted Foreign Minister Ahmet Davutoglu as saying. The report did not clarify the nature of the ties he was referring to.