Israel and Turkey have been at loggerheads for more than a decade. The ice of that relationship has finally begun to melt. Israeli President Isaac Herzog has arrived in Ankara at the invitation of Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan. He arrived in Ankara on Wednesday. This is the first visit to Turkey by a top Israeli official since 2006. The visit of the Israeli president is expected to build good relations between the two countries.
In recent years, Ankara-Tel Aviv relations have been strained over various issues. That relationship worsened in 2016 when Jerusalem was declared the capital of Israel. Since then, Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan has been sharply critical of Israel. Last year, an Israeli couple was detained while taking pictures of the Turkish president's official residence. Later, Israeli Prime Minister Naftali Bennett called Erdogan to demand their release.
This was the first discussion between the two countries' top leadership since 2013. The couple was released by Turkey. From then on, the ice between the two countries began to melt.
About two decades of improvement from last month. The Turkish president said at the time that Turkey and Israel could work together to supply Israel's natural gas to Europe. The two countries may also discuss cooperation in the power sector in March. Ahead of Herzog's visit, Turkish Foreign Minister Mevl কাt Cavusoglu said Turkey would not back down from its commitment to a Palestinian state to establish closer ties with Israel.
Both Turkey and Israel have said that the two presidents will raise issues of cooperation and repair bilateral relations. Earlier, in 1997, Israel and Turkey signed an agreement on strategic cooperation. Under the agreement, the two countries' air forces could train each other. Later, more arms cooperation agreements were signed between the two countries. At that time, Turkey was facing criticism from the countries of the Arab world including Iran. However, relations between the two countries have been severed due to Israeli attacks on Palestinians in the Gaza Strip. Relations between the two countries have deteriorated since 2010 when 10 Turkish nationals were killed in an Israeli airstrike on a Turkish aid ship bound for Gaza. In March 2013, under pressure from then-US President Barack Obama, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu apologized to Turkey and announced compensation for the families of those killed. Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan also pardoned. In November last year, Erdogan called Israeli President Herzog and Prime Minister Bennett. They discussed cooperation in the gas pipeline project through Turkey. Now Herzog is visiting Turkey to take the relationship one step further. Israel has hosted historic conferences in the United States, Bahrain, the United Arab Emirates and Morocco. The two-day conference will be held next Sunday and Monday, the Israeli Foreign Ministry said in a statement on Friday.
The statement said that the foreign ministers of the four countries would visit Israel to attend the conference at the invitation of Israeli Foreign Minister Yar Lapid. Bahrain, the United Arab Emirates and Morocco have established diplomatic relations with Israel in 2020 under the Abraham Agreement. Analysts believe that the signing of the agreement will pave the way for strengthening Israel's bilateral relations with the two countries.
During his visit to Israel, Blinken is scheduled to meet with President Isaac Herzog, Prime Minister Naftali Bennett, Foreign Minister Jared Lapid and Defense Minister Benny Gantz. He will also hold separate meetings with Palestinian Authority leader Mohammed Abbas and UAE Crown Prince Mohammed bin Zayed.
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