The call comes days after Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan continued in his friendlier messages towards Israel.
Faraan: Turkish Foreign Minister Mevlüt Çavuşoğlu called Zionist regime’s Foreign Minister Yair Lapid on Thursday, marking the first such call between the countries’ top diplomats in 13 years, Jerusalem Post reported.
The official statement from Al-Quds was that Çavuşoğlu called to wish Lapid well after he tested positive for COVID-19. The Foreign Ministry in Ankara did not release a readout.
Lapid, however, has already recovered from COVID-19 and left isolation.
The call comes days after Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan continued in his friendlier messages towards Israel.
Erdogan mentioned in a press conference on Tuesday that he may meet with Zionist regime’s President Isaac Herzog, and said that Prime Minister Naftali Bennett is “sending messages at different levels.”
Erdogan also said that he would be willing to work with Israel on a natural gas pipeline to Europe via Turkey, after the US told Greece, Israel and Cyprus that it does not support their joint plan to construct the EastMed pipeline towards that end.
An Israeli source confirmed that talks were ongoing between Bet Hanassi and Erdogan’s office for Herzog to visit.
The source emphasized that improvements in Tel Aviv -Ankara relations will not come at the expense of Israel’s alliance with Greece and Cyprus, which are Turkey’s historic adversaries.
Also this week, the Turkish Foreign Ministry criticized Israel for evicting Palestinians who had illegally built their homes and business on public land, and Turkey’s Ministry of Religious Affairs organized a “symposium meant to raise awareness about conflict in Jerusalem and the Al-Aksa Mosque.”
Erdogan and Herzog have spoken on the phone three times since the latter entered office last year; first, to congratulate the Israeli president on his new post, then, after an Israeli couple was released from Turkish prison, and last week, after Herzog’s mother died, which came in addition to a condolence letter.
Last month, Erdogan said Israel and Turkey can exchange ambassadors again if Israel changes course in areas Turkey views as red flags, specifically Jerusalem and the Al-Aqsa Mosque.
In recent years, Turkey harbored Hamas members and backed destabilizing activities in east Al-Quds, and Erdogan accused Israel of intentionally killing Palestinian children.
Erdogan made overtures toward Israel throughout 2021, a reversal that may be related to Turkey’s declining economy and poor relations with the US.
The nadir in Israel-Turkey ties was in 2010, when the Erdogan-linked IHH (Humanitarian Relief Foundation) sent the Mavi Marmara ship to bust the IDF’s naval blockade on Gaza, arming some of the people aboard. IDF naval commandos stopped the ship, were attacked by IHH members aboard and killed nine of them.
Israel and Turkey maintained diplomatic relations in the aftermath, even reinstalling ambassadors in 2016. But two years later, Ankara expelled Israel’s ambassador over the IDF response to rioting on the Gaza border.
