ANKARA – Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan today informed Israeli Prime Minister -designate Benjamin Netanyahu after winning the elections this month, of the importance of preserving bilateral relations between the two countries on the basis of respecting common interests, according to a statement issued by the Turkish presidency.
The Turkish presidency added that Erdogan offered his condolences to the Likud leader regarding “the events that took place two days ago in the West Bank” and three Israelis died near a settlement in the occupied West Bank, while Netanyahu condemned condolences to the victims of the bombing that occurred in Istanbul on Sunday.
The Likud party, which is headed by Netanyahu in a statement that the two leaders agreed to work together to “start a new era of relations between Turkey and Israel,” adding that they discussed ways to enhance economic and diplomatic relations, while communication comes at a stage that is witnessing an unprecedented rapprochement in relations between Turkey and Israel after a period Years of tensions.
Israeli President Isaac Herzog made a historic visit to Ankara in March, during which he met his Turkish counterpart and crowned the two parties to launch a new stage in relations after a diplomatic break that lasted for more than a decade.
The relations between the two countries witnessed tension after an Israeli raid on a Turkish aid ship for the Gaza Strip and the killing of 9 Turkish civilians in 2010 in an incident that tension between the two sides and pushed Turkey to expel the Israeli ambassador.
Diplomatic relations were resumed in 2016 and then returned to tension after two years after Ankara withdrew its ambassador and expelled the Israeli diplomats after the killing of Palestinian civilians by the Israeli forces.
But the water gradually returned to its streams and crowned the announcement of Tel Aviv and Ankara last August 17 to resume diplomatic relations completely and the return of ambassadors to the two countries.
In March, Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan expressed his willingness to “cooperate with Israel in the field of energy” with the possibility of transporting “Israeli gas” to Europe across Turkish territory at a time when the Kurdish crisis raises concerns about the energy supplies.
The right -wing office statement also stated that Erdogan sent a message of congratulations to Netanyahu on his victory in the elections, in which he indicated the importance of continuing cooperation between the two countries in all fields “in order to achieve peace and stability in the region.
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Experts believe that the return of relations between the two countries, despite the absence of any change that Ankara may see “positively” in Israeli policy, is driven by Ankara’s search for an outlet for its economic crisis and to avoid regional isolation whose features were drawn a while ago with the emergence of a regional alliance that brings Egypt, Greece, Cyprus and Israel..
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