Turkey’s Foreign Minister Ahmet Davutoglu says his country would keep up its all-out efforts to push Israel into removing the years-long siege of the Gaza Strip.

Davutoglu met with Hamas’ political leader, Khaled Meshaal in the Syrian capital, Damascus on Tuesday, AFP reported, citing Turkish outlets.

The Palestinian resistance movement quoted the minister as reaffirming that Turkey would "pursue its efforts to lift" the blockade, the agency added.

Israel imposed the blockade in June 2007 after Hamas came to power in the coastal sliver on the back of democratic elections, held a year before.

Turkey had earlier called on Israel to eliminate the siege so it could partially compensate for its May 31 killing of nine Turkish activists. The victims had set sail to break the siege as part of a hundreds-strong Ankara-backed flotilla.

The minister as well repeated other Turkish demands over the attack, saying Tel Aviv has to offer an apology, compensate the survivors and agree to an international probe into the assault.

Tel Aviv has so far strictly rejected the investigation, while insisting it would not seek Ankara’s forgiveness.

(Press TV)