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The authorities of both countries announced that they will reopen their embassies to formally channel the bilateral dialogue after four years of tensions. Thus ends a stage of constant improvement of ties, something that “will expand economic, commercial and cultural ties and regional stability,” said Yair Lapid. Ankara achieves the objective of strengthening the deal with a power in the area, something that It is on track with the United Arab Emirates and Saudi Arabia, but not with Egypt.
This Wednesday, August 17, the governments of Turkey and Israel announced that they will reopen their respective embassies after four years closed and marked by tensions between nations. It is the definitive result of constant improvements for two territories that seek to strengthen unity with the leaders of the region.
With energy benefits as the spearhead, both nations will restore trade cooperation after the Turks severed the link in 2018 after 60 Palestinians were killed during protests in Gaza against the opening of US offices in Jerusalem. .
“It was decided once again to raise the level of relations between the two countries to full diplomatic ties and return ambassadors and consuls general,” Yair Lapid’s office said in a statement, after he had meetings with his Turkish counterpart and President Recep Tayyip Erdogan.
According to the Israeli prime minister, this diplomatic evolution will contribute to “deepen ties between the two peoples, expand economic, commercial and cultural alliances and strengthen regional stability.”
For his part, the Turkish Foreign Minister, Mevlut Cavusoglu, said that the process will be completed in early September and stressed that the appointment of ambassadors was an advance towards normalization with Israel.
Following my conversation with President @RTErdoganIsrael & Türkiye have decided to restore full diplomatic ties between our nations, including returning ambassadors.
This will contribute not only to deepening our bilateral ties, but to strengthening regional stability. 🇮🇱 🇹🇷
— יאיר לפיד – Yair Lapid (@yairlapid) August 17, 2022
According to Cavusoglu, the embassy will be located in Tel Aviv, but he clarified that they have not decided on the proper name that the office will occupy, something that will be settled soon.
However, the diplomat stressed that Turkey’s defense of the Palestinian cause remains.
As part of the process of rebuilding relations, the president of Israel, Isaac Herzog, traveled to Turkey last March, kicking off face-to-face exchanges between the foreign ministers.
With the diplomatic strengthening with Ankara, Israel continues with its goal of strengthening ties with the powers of the region. Two years earlier, after the Abraham Accords, he managed to normalize deals with Bahrain, the United Arab Emirates and Morocco.
On the other hand, Turkey has a similar objective, but Israel is the first with which it manages to reinstate formal relations. Since 2020 they seek to mend the unions with Egypt, the United Arab Emirates and Saudi Arabia.
At the moment, they have had promising rapprochements with Abu Dhabi and Riyadh, but with Cairo the situation remains frozen.
The tension between Turkey and Israel was always latent, but it exploded in 2010 when the Mavi Marmara crisis occurred, a humanitarian delegation that wanted to break the blockade on Gaza and where nine people ended up dead at the hands of Israeli forces.
With EFE and Reuters
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