Israeli president to visit Turkey next week in mutual bid to repair ties

Turkey and Israel will discuss steps to improve co-operation between them during talks between the two countries’ presidents next week in Ankara, the Turkish presidency said on Saturday, as the regional rivals work to repair long-strained ties.

Israel and Turkey mutually expelled ambassadors in 2018 and relations have remained prickly, but Ankara has recently worked to improve relations with several countries in the region as part of a charm offensive launched in 2020.

As part of the rapprochement, Israeli president Isaac Herzog will visit Ankara on March 9th-10th at the invitation of Turkish president Tayyip Erdogan, the Turkish presidency said.

Mr Erdogan and Mr Herzog will “review all aspects of Turkey-Israel bilateral ties” and “discuss steps that can be taken to improve co-operation”, it said. The two presidents will also hold talks on “recent regional and international developments”.

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Mr Herzog’s spokesman said the visit was being co-ordinated with prime minister Naftali Bennett, adding it will be the first by an Israeli leader since 2008.

“The two presidents will discuss various bilateral issues, including Israel-Turkey relations and the potential for expanding collaboration,” he said in a statement.

Ankara, which supports a two-state solution to the Israeli-Palestinian conflict, has condemned Israel’s occupation of the West Bank and its policy towards Palestinians, while Israel has called on Turkey to drop support for the militant Palestinian group Hamas which runs Gaza.

While Mr Erdogan has spoken to Mr Herzog before, Israel’s presidency is a largely ceremonial role. In November, he spoke to Mr Bennett, the first such call to an Israeli prime minister in years.

Last month, Turkey said it would not abandon its commitment to a Palestinian state in order to broker closer ties with Israel. Mr Erdogan has said energy co-operation could be on the agenda during the talks with Mr Herzog. – Reuters