Turkish president, Israeli PM hold phone talk over decision to reinstate envoys

Ankara [Turkey], August 18: Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan and Israeli Prime Minister Yair Lapid had a phone conversation on Wednesday after the two countries announced a decision to mutually reinstate ambassadors for the first time since 2018.
During the phone talk, Erdogan hailed the progress of Türkiye-Israel relations within the framework agreed upon during the visits of Israeli President Isaac Herzog and Israeli Prime Minister Yair Lapid to Ankara, the Turkish presidency said in a statement.
Erdogan said that he supports the development of cooperation and dialogue between Israel and Türkiye on a sustainable basis of mutual respect, and Türkiye would take immediate steps to appoint a new ambassador to Israel, according to the statement.
Israel and Türkiye announced on Wednesday their decision to restore full diplomatic ties and dispatch ambassadors to each other after years of tensions.
"We have decided to appoint an ambassador to Israel's Tel Aviv," Turkish Foreign Minister Mevlut Cavusoglu said, adding the relevant dialogue started after a new Israeli government took office in 2021.
The process will begin after both countries present the names of the ambassadors, Cavusoglu said.
The relations between Israel and Türkiye became strained in 2010 when a Turkish-led flotilla attempting to break Israel's blockade on the Gaza Strip clashed with Israeli forces, leaving 10 Turks on board killed.
In 2018, Türkiye and Israel expelled each other's top diplomats amid a quarrel over the Israeli killing of 60 Palestinians during their protests against the opening of the U.S. Embassy in Jerusalem.
Türkiye and Israel have been working to mend their ties in the past months, including Israeli President Isaac Herzog's visit to Türkiye in March, the first of its kind by a senior Israeli official since 2008, and their talks on pipelining natural gas from Israel to Europe via Türkiye.
Source: Xinhua