President of Israel to visit Turkey this week
Bilateral issues in focus with state visit seen as sign of thawing ties between countries
Israeli President Isaac Herzog will travel to Turkey this week to meet his counterpart Recep Tayyip Erdogan, in what is believed to be a sign of thawing ties.
Herzog will be the first Israeli leader to go to Turkey on a state visit since 2003. He will be received by Erdogan in Ankara on Wednesday before continuing to Istanbul, where he will also meet members of the Jewish community.
“The two presidents will discuss various bilateral issues, including Israel-Turkey relations and the potential for expanding the collaboration between their respective states and peoples in various fields,” Herzog’s office said.
Relations between Muslimmajority Turkey and Israel froze over the deaths of 10 civilians in an Israeli raid on a Turkish flotilla carrying aid for the Gaza Strip in 2010.
A 2015 reconciliation pact formally restored ties, but neither country returned an ambassador to post, with Erdogan frequently criticising Israeli actions in the Palestinian territories.
In recent months, however, the two countries have been working on a rapprochement, with Erdogan holding telephone talks with Herzog. In January, Erdogan called Herzog’s planned visit an opportunity to “open a new chapter in relations between Turkey and Israel”.
Over the past two weeks, Herzog visited Greece and Cyprus to reassure them the rapprochement with Turkey would not undermine Israel’s ties with its Mediterranean neighbours.
Herzog’s office said the visit, which would end on Thursday, was coordinated with Turkey’s foreign ministry and the president’s office.
[The planned visit of President Herzog will] open a new chapter in relations
RECEP TAYYIP ERDOGAN, TURKISH PRESIDENT