Web Desk (LTN NEWS): After a slow improvement in relations, Turkey and Israel have agreed to bring back full diplomatic ties and send their ambassadors back to each other’s countries.
After Israeli Prime Minister Yair Lapid and Turkish Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan talked, the announcement was made on Wednesday. It happens four years after the two countries kicked their ambassadors out of each other’s countries because Israeli forces killed 60 Palestinians during protests on the Gaza border against the opening of the US Embassy in Jerusalem.
A statement from Lapid’s office said, “It was decided to once again raise the level of relations between the two countries to that of full diplomatic ties and to send back ambassadors and consuls general.”
“Upgrading relations will help strengthen ties between the two peoples, grow economic, trade, and cultural ties, and make the region more stable,” the report said.
Mevlut Cavusoglu, the Turkish foreign minister, told reporters in Ankara that appointing ambassadors was “one of the steps toward normalizing relations.” “Israel took such a good step, and because of this, Turkey also decided to send an ambassador to Tel Aviv, the capital of Israel,” he said.
Cavusoglu added that Turkey would not be giving up on the Palestinian cause because of this move.
“We have always said that we will keep fighting for Palestine, Jerusalem, and Gaza’s rights. It’s important that our messages get through to Tel Aviv’s ambassadors,” he said.
Tensions have been high between the two countries for more than 10 years. In March, Israeli President Isaac Herzog went to Turkey, and then both countries’ foreign ministers went there. These trips helped to improve relations.
“There will be a presidential election in Turkey in one year. But since inflation is over 70%, Ankara wants to get investment from other countries in the area. There are also problems with security in Syria and the area around the eastern Mediterranean basin. Turkey sees Israel as a strong country, and Israel sees Turkey as a power that keeps the peace in a region where Iran is a threat.
But even if diplomatic ties were fully restored, he said, the Palestinian issue would probably still be a “contentious difference” between the two countries.
The deal was made two years after the so-called Abraham Accords, which brought peace between Israel, Bahrain, the United Arab Emirates (UAE), and Morocco. Israel has been trying to get along better with other countries in the area.
In 2020, Turkey also tried to make up with its rivals Egypt, the UAE, and Saudi Arabia by putting on a charm offensive. So far, there hasn’t been much progress with Cairo, but officials say that normalization efforts with Riyadh and Abu Dhabi are going well.
