(ruskpp / Shutterstock.com)
This week, a senior Turkish delegation visited Israel to meet with senior Israeli officials to plan for Israeli President Herzog’s much-anticipated visit to Turkey at the beginning of March.
According to the Israeli President’s Office, the delegation “discussed preparations for the visit of Israeli President Isaac Herzog to Turkey, bilateral ties between the two countries, as well as various regional issues”, adding that “both have agreed that the rehabilitation of relations can contribute to regional stability”.
The Turkish delegation was headed by Ibrahim Kalin, Senior Adviser to President Recep Tayyip Erdogan, and Deputy Foreign Minister Sadat Onal. They met with Foreign Ministry Director-General Alon Ushpiz and Eyal Shviki, Director-General of President Herzog’s office, and during the meeting with Shviki, the President came in to welcome the Turkish officials. This visit was a follow up from Director-General Ushpiz’s visit to Turkey at the end of 2021, when talks of President Herzog visiting the country began.
Historically, Israel and Turkey were once close regional allies, however ties were cut following the Mavi Marmara raid that saw a deadly confrontation between Israeli commandos and Turkish activists seeking to breach Israel’s naval blockade of the Gaza Strip, in May 2010. In June 2016, a reconciliation deal saw the restoration of full ambassador-level relations and Israel’s then-Deputy Ambassador to the UK, Eitan Na’eh, was appointed as the new Ambassador to Turkey by the Israeli Foreign Ministry.
