OCCUPIED JERUSALEM — Turkey’s
diplomatic rekindling with Israel will help the Palestinians, Foreign Minister
Mevlut Cavusoglu said Monday, in the first trip to Israel by Ankara’s top
diplomat in 15 years.
اضافة اعلان
Cavusoglu, who met Palestinian officials in the
occupied West Bank on Tuesday, was in Jerusalem as
Turkey and Israel seek to
mend ties following a breakdown that began during an Israeli military operation
in
Gaza in 2008. Cavusoglu and his Israeli counterpart Yair Lapid stressed that
economic ties had continued to grow despite years of acrimony between the two countries. “We won’t pretend that our relationship has
not seen its ups and downs,” Lapid said.
“Even in times of political tension, economic cooperation between our
countries has been constantly on the rise.”
Cavusoglu noted that Turkey was a top 10 trading
partner for Israel and a major destination for Israeli tourists, voicing hope
that deepening ties could yield benefits for Palestinians. “We believe that
normalization of our ties will have a positive impact on peaceful resolution of
the conflict,” he said.
Cavusoglu claimed that dialogue between
Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan and his Israeli counterpart Isaac Herzog helped
“maintain calm” during a tense period in Jerusalem this year that saw
widespread unrest during the Muslim holy month of
Ramadan, as Israeli occupying
forces used rubber bullets and other forms of unnecessary violence on Muslim
worshippers in Al-Aqsa Mosque and encouraged Israeli settlers to storm
the mosque’s compound and raise the Israeli flag.
“Turkey is ready to take responsibility to continue
the efforts towards (Israeli-Palestinian) dialogue,” Cavusoglu said. Israel and Turkey hailed a new era in
relations when Herzog met with
Erdogan in Ankara in March. Erdogan remains a
vocal supporter of the Palestinian cause but analysts say he wants improved
relations with Israel to bolster Turkey struggling economy, including through
joint gas initiatives. Cavusoglu and
Lapid on Wednesday agreed to set up a formal process that would allow Israeli
carriers to land in Turkey and renewed a bilateral economic commission. The
Turkish diplomat had earlier visited Jerusalem’s Holocaust memorial Yad Vashem
and was headed to the Al-Aqsa mosque compound in Israeli-annexed east
Jerusalem, Islam’s third holiest site.
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