Turkiye’s President meets Israeli PM after 14 years
After a prolonged and acrimonious rift, Israel’s Prime Minister recently met with Turkey’s President for the first time in 14 years indicating improving relations between the two regional superpowers.
According to Israeli Prime Minister Yair Lapid’s office, he spoke with Recep Tayyip Erdogan outside the United Nations General Assembly, the biggest annual meeting of world leaders now taking place in New York.
Mr. Lapid stated that he “commended” the recent restoration of full diplomatic connections between the two states as well as the selection of a new Israeli ambassador to Turkey during his meeting with Mr. Erdogan.
The scene of Mr. Lapid, the Israeli caretaker Prime Minister until new elections in November, warmly greeting Mr. Erdogan could serve to bolster his diplomatic credentials as an alternative to Israel’s longtime former Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu.
Mr. Netanyahu has billed himself as a world-class statesman, but relations with Turkey deteriorated during his more than a decade in power. Since Mr. Netanyahu resigned from office last year, Mr. Erdogan has indicated a desire for closer ties.
President Erodgan has been a vocal opponent of Israeli policy toward the Palestinians throughout years of tense relations.
Israel has reacted negatively to Turkey’s acceptance of Hamas, the Palestinian militant organization that controls the Gaza Strip.
After Israeli soldiers stormed a Gaza-bound flotilla carrying help for Palestinians that breached an Israeli blockade, formerly close regional allies withdrew their respective ambassadors in 2010. Nine Turkish activists died as a result of the incident.
Turkiye’s President meets Israeli PM after 14 years
However, the two states decided to exchange ambassadors after Israeli President Isaac Herzog’s state visit to Turkey in March and other indications of a thaw. The nations still have several common strategic objectives, one of which is to restrict Iran.
Lapid commended Erodgan for intelligence assistance against Iranian attempts to conduct strikes in Turkey at their meeting in New York, according to his office, and brought up the problem of missing and kidnapped Israelis.
