Israeli President Isaac Herzog travels to Turkey on Wednesday to meet with Turkish counterpart Recep Tayyip Erdogan to mend bilateral relations, the first visit by an Israeli head of state since 2007.
Herzog’s visit to Ankara and Istanbul was scheduled weeks before Russia’s invasion of Ukraine, but the conflict is likely to be the subject of negotiations, as Israel and Turkey have played a mediating role in recent days.
But bilateral issues could dominate the agenda, after more than two decades of diplomatic rift between the Jewish state and Turkey, a Muslim-majority country sympathetic to the Palestinian cause.
Such issues include the sale of gas to Europe, a topic made relevant by the Ukrainian conflict.
Relations between Israel and Turkey were frozen after the death of 10 civilians in an Israeli attack on the Turkish ship Mavi Marmara, which was part of a flotilla trying to bring aid to the Gaza Strip in 2010 amid an Israeli blockade.
The countries reached a reconciliation agreement in 2016, which collapsed in 2018 after clashes on the border with Gaza, in which dozens of Palestinians were killed.
Turkey then called in its diplomats and expelled the Israeli envoy.
However, the two countries have sought a new rapprochement in recent months.
Herzog, who has taken on a key diplomatic role, has spoken with Erdogan several times since taking office in July.
Israeli officials said the two presidents could discuss the possibility of Israel exporting gas to Europe through Turkey, a possibility Erdogan had considered in January.
Israeli Prime Minister Naftali Bennett took on a mediating role between Russia and Ukraine over the weekend, meeting Russian President Vladimir Putin and Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky.
Erdogan is also in contact with Putin and Zelensky, while Turkish Foreign Minister Mevlut Cavusoglu is due to receive his Russian and Ukrainian counterparts in southern Turkey on Thursday.
Herzog will also meet with members of the Jewish community in Istanbul before returning to Israel on Thursday.
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