After more than a decade of diplomatic turmoil, Turkish and Israeli leaders pledged to restore diplomatic ties by appointing ambassadors following efforts by both sides to normalise relations.

Turkey and Israel to Restore Full Diplomatic Ties

A Turkish Consulate employee outside its premises in Jerusalem, August 2022. Photo: EPA-EFE/ATEF SAFADI

Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan and Israeli Prime Minister Yair Lapid agreed on Wednesday to fully restore diplomatic relations between the two countries.

The two countries pledged to appoint ambassadors and consul generals, announcement that follows normalisation attempts by both sides in recent months involving high-level visits from senior officials.

“Restoring ties with Turkey is an important asset to the stability of the region and bears great economic significance to Israel’s citizens,” Israeli Prime Minister Lapid said in a statement reported by Haaretz.

Turkish Foreign Minister Mevlut Cavusoglu said the decision was part of a process to normalise relations that began when Israel’s new government took office in 2021.

“We made a statement that we have started work on the appointment of ambassadors. A positive step has also come from Israel. As Turkey, we have decided to appoint an ambassador to Israel,” Cavusoglu said.

Israeli President Isaac Herzog also praised the decision.

“I commend the renewal of full diplomatic relations with Turkey—an important development that we’ve been leading for the past year, which will encourage greater economic relations, mutual tourism, and friendship between the Israeli and Turkish peoples,” Herzog wrote on Twitter.

Israel and Turkey are considered traditional allies in the Middle East but bilateral relations significantly deteriorated after an Israeli commando raid in 2010 on a ship which tried to break the Israeli blockage of Gaza. Ten Turkish citizens were killed by Israeli commandos during the raid.

In 2016, several steps were taken to normalise relations but former US President Donald Trump’s decision to move US embassy to Jerusalem and President Erdogan’s anti-Israeli politics in the region prevented progress.

But the normalisation process resumed over the past year amid changing regional dynamics in the East Mediterranean and Middle East.

Source link: balkaninsight.com