Israel’s unexpected official apology to Turkey over the deadly May 30, 2010, raid by Israeli commandos on the Mavi Marmara aid ship, during which nine Turkish pro-Palestinian activists were shot dead, may be the product of necessity for a country increasingly isolated in its region.

The apology, whose timing took many — this writer included — by surprise, however, also provides Turkey a chance to regain its lost political influence in a region where it once appeared set to play a key role as a major mediator.

Turkey and Israel will also have a chance to cooperate in the energy field, following the discovery of vast gas reserves in the Eastern Mediterranean, since the most economically profitable way of carrying the gas to world markets is through Turkey, according to industry experts.

Israel’s apology caught many off-guard coming as it did at a time when the already bad atmosphere in ties was soured further after Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan’s recent remarks, during a UN forum in Vienna, in which said “Zionism” should be considered a “crime against humanity.”