After more than a decade of tension in their relations, Israel and Turkey in recent months ushered in a new period in their relations marked by the historic visit of Israeli President Isaac Herzog to Ankara in March.
In all the diplomatic boards is playing Erdogan which is desperately trying to secure a foothold internationally. In this context, it seems that he managed to restore Turkey’s diplomatic relations with Israel which had been frozen for the last 12 years and which of course he himself had systematically torpedoed all this time.
“Terrorist State” the Turkish president had once characterized Israel and now Israel and Turkey have decided to fully restore their diplomatic relations and return the ambassadors and consuls general of both countries to the two countries.
“Upgrading relations will contribute to the strengthening of ties between the two peoples, the expansion of economic, trade and cultural relations and the strengthening of regional stability,” the Israeli Prime Minister’s Office said in a statement.
For his part, the Turkish Foreign Minister Mevlut Cavusoglu after the Israeli announcement stated that, despite the full restoration of Turkish-Israeli relations, TUrkia “will not abandon the Palestinian cause.”
As reported by the SKAI correspondent in Istanbul, Manolis Kostidisanalysts estimate that Turkey is hoping for the influence of the Israel lobby in the US, on the issue of upgrading the F-16s.
The history of the controversial relationship
After more than a decade of tension in their relationshipIsrael and Turkey have in recent months inaugurated a new period in their relations marked by the historic visit of Israeli President Isaac Herzog to Ankara in March.
Then, Mevlut Cavusoglu visited Jerusalem, specifically at the end of May, as part of the rewarming of bilateral relations.
It is noted that Turkish President Tayyip Erdogan, who has promoted himself as a defender of the Palestinian cause, he has been a fierce critic of Israeli policy towards the Palestinians.
After all, Turkey maintains close relations with Hamas, which controls and administers the Gaza Strip since 2007.
The deterioration of relations between Ankara and Tel Aviv began in 2010 with the case of the Mavi Marmara ship, when Israeli forces carried out a bloody raid on the Turkish ship that, carrying humanitarian aid, was heading to the Gaza Strip with the aim of breaking the Israeli blockade.
Turkey and Israel recalled their ambassadors to Tel Aviv and Ankara respectively in 2018 after Israeli forces killed 60 Palestinians during protests on the border between Gaza and Israeli territory against the Trump administration’s opening of the US embassy in Jerusalem.
The State Department is threatening sanctions
Meanwhile, the State Department earlier threatened Ankara with new sanctions in case the reports about the purchase of a second S-400 array from Russia are confirmed.
“What we have consistently said, in any case, is that Russia’s brutal and unjustified war against Ukraine makes it vital, now more than ever, in some ways, that all countries should avoid dealing with Russian defense sector. So they risk being penalized“, the representative of the US Department of State, Ned Price, explained about the issue.
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