OCCUPIED JERUSALEM —
Israel and Turkey
announced the resumption of full diplomatic ties on Wednesday, following years
of strained relations between the Mediterranean nations.
اضافة اعلان
Israeli Prime Minister Yair Lapid hailed the
diplomatic breakthrough as an “important asset for regional stability and very
important economic news for the citizens of Israel”.
Lapid’s office said the diplomatic development will
see ambassadors and consuls- general posted to the two countries once more.
The announcement follows months of bilateral efforts
to mend ties, with reciprocal visits by top officials.
Turkish Foreign Minister Mevlut Cavusoglu said the
return of ambassadors “is important to improve bilateral ties”, while still
vowing to “defend” Palestinian rights.
Cavusoglu in May became the first Turkish foreign
minister to visit Israel in 15 years, during a trip which also saw him meet the
Palestinian leadership in the occupied West Bank.
During a landmark visit by Israeli President Isaac
Herzog to Ankara two months earlier,
Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan proclaimed their meeting marked “a turning point in our relations”.
Bilateral relations began to fray in 2008, following
an Israeli war on Gaza.
Relations then froze in 2010 after the deaths of 10
civilians following an Israeli raid on the Turkish Mavi Marmara ship, part of a
flotilla trying to breach a blockade by carrying aid into Gaza.
A brief reconciliation lasted from 2016 until 2018,
when Turkey withdrew its ambassador and expelled Israel’s over the killing of
Palestinians. More than 200 Gazans were shot dead by Israeli forces during
border protests from 2018 to 2019.
Turkey’s economic woes
Reconciliation publicly got
underway after Herzog took office in July 2021.
The Israeli president on Wednesday said the full
renewal of ties “will encourage greater economic relations, mutual tourism, and
friendship between the Israeli and Turkish peoples”.
Despite the diplomatic differences in recent years,
trade had continued and Turkey has remained a popular destination for Israeli
tourists.
Israel however warned its citizens to return home in
June, citing an Iranian assassination plot against its nationals in Istanbul.
Lapid then thanked Ankara for its cooperation on the
issue and Israelis swiftly resumed their Turkish holidays.
Israel has been wary of upsetting regional allies
over its decision to strengthen ties with Turkey, with Herzog dispatched to
Cyprus and Greece ahead of his Ankara trip.
Gallia Lindenstrauss, a senior research fellow at
Israel’s Institute for National Security Studies, said Turkey’s financial
crisis is likely behind the renewed relations.
“Turkey needs to improve its economic standing to
attract foreign direct investment,” she told journalists, pointing to Ankara’s
efforts to boost ties elsewhere in the Middle East.
“This normalization attempt is basically to make the
diplomatic standing (of Turkey) better, to attract foreign direct investment,”
she added.
‘Defend’ Palestinians
Turkey has meanwhile been
keen to stress that its normalization with Israel could yield benefits for the
Palestinians.
“As we have always said, we will continue to defend
the rights of Palestinians,” Cavusoglu said on Wednesday.
As well as its relations with the Palestinian
leadership based in the West Bank, Turkey has also maintained ties with Hamas.
Basem Naim, a member of Hamas’ political leadership,
said the group expressed “condemnation” of any efforts to strengthen ties with
Israel.
“We expect all Arab, Muslim, and friendly countries
to move towards isolating this occupation (Israel), and to pressure it to
respond to our legitimate Palestinian rights and aspirations,” he told AFP.
Efraim Inbar, president of the Jerusalem Institute
for Strategy and Security, said observers should be “under no illusion” that
Israeli-Turkish ties will be as good as they were during the 1990s.
“As long as Erdogan is in power there will be a
certain amount of hostility from Turkey towards Israel, because of his Islamist
connection. He will continue to support Hamas for instance,” he told AFP.
Israel has imposed a blockade on Gaza’s 2.3 million
residents since 2007.
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