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Israel’s Foreign Minister Yair Lapid – and soon to be Caretaker Prime Minister of Israel – made a high-profile visit to Turkey on Thursday to meet Foreign Minister Mevlut Cavusoglu. The main topic of discussion was recent attempts by Iranian backed terrorists to attack Israelis in Istanbul, with Turkish officials confirming the arrest of eight suspects who they believed to be part of an Iranian cell planning to kidnap Israelis. Lapid thanked his counterpart for their “professional and coordinated activity” in disrupting the plot and heralded the quickening improvement in bilateral relations.
Due to the failures in Turkey, Israel was able to publicly expose Hossein Taeb, the Iranian official in charge of planning attacks against Israelis. This week, Taeb was fired, and replaced with another senior Islamic Revolutionary Guards Corps official. The suspects arrested were disguised as students or businessmen, and were caught with a number of weapons and ammunition by Turkey’s National Intelligence Organization.
Lapid announced that discussions have been held on returning ambassadors soon and improving the economic dialogue between the two nations, including enhanced flights. Turkey recalled its Ambassador to Israel following the United States’ recognition of Jerusalem as Israel’s capital in 2018, and relations have been strained for over a decade.
