Israel president travels to Turkey in bid to reset frayed relations

Israeli President Isaac Herzog will travel to Turkey on Wednesday, becoming the first Israeli leader to visit in 14 years, as the two countries move to try to turn a new page in their troubled relationship over the oppression of Palestinians.

Herzog is scheduled to hold talks with Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan in Ankara before travelling to Istanbul for meetings with Turkey’s Jewish community.

Turkey and Israel were once close allies, but the relationship frayed under Erdogan, who is an outspoken critic of Israel’s treatment toward the Palestinians, which Amnesty International and Human Rights Watch have said amounts to the crime of apartheid. 

Israel, for its part, has been angered by Erdogan’s embrace of Hamas, the Islamist movement that controls the Gaza Strip. Israel considers Hamas a terrorist group.

The countries withdrew their ambassadors in 2010 after Israeli forces stormed a Gaza-bound flotilla carrying humanitarian aid for the Palestinians that broke an Israeli siege on the Palestinian enclave killing nine Turkish activists.

Relations broke down again in 2018 when Turkey, angered by the US moving its embassy to Jerusalem - against international consensus - once more recalled its ambassador from Israel, with Israel doing the same. The two countries have not so far reappointed ambassadors.

The steps toward a rapprochement with Israel comes as Turkey, beset by economic troubles, has been trying to end its international isolation by normalising its frayed ties with several countries of the region, including Egypt, the United Arab Emirates and Saudi Arabia.

In the first step toward reconciliation, Erdogan called Herzog by phone after the Israeli head of state took office last year and the two have held several telephone conversations since then.

Erdogan has also spoken to Prime Minister Naftali Bennett following the release of an Israeli couple who were arrested in Istanbul on suspicion of spying.

Last week, Herzog visited Cyprus where he issued reassurances that Israel’s warming relation with Turkey would not come at the expense of ties with Nicosia. During a visit to Greece last month, Herzog made similar remarks, insisting Israel would continue to expand its cooperation with Greece and Cyprus, which both have tense relations with Turkey.

Israel’s ties with Greece and Cyprus blossomed following the discovery of sizeable natural gas deposits in eastern Mediterranean waters as the countries look for ways to build on energy-based cooperation.

Turkey for its part has said there would be no change to Ankara’s position toward the Palestinians despite the normalisation efforts with Israel.