ANKARA, Turkey(Washington Insider Magazine) – Israel’s president will meet with Recep Tayyip Erdogan, Turkey’s president, in the Turkish capital, Ankara, as the two nations try to heal their strained relations in the 1st visit by an Israeli president since 2008.
The two nations have regularly swapped accusations over Israel’s control of Palestinian regions and Ankara’s backing for Hamas, the Gaza Strip’s ruling party.
According to Al Jazeera, President Isaac Herzog’s journey to Istanbul and Ankara this Wednesday and Thursday had been planned for weeks as the two nations worked to reconcile.
Regional concerns and bilateral diplomatic connections are set to take center stage during the summit, but the possibility of using Israeli supply of gas in Turkey and, further ambitiously, Europe also is likely to be discussed.
Erdogan has stated that the visit, which was initially announced in January, will usher in a “new era” and that the two nations may collaborate to transport Israeli natural resources to Europe, resurrecting a concept that was first explored over 20 years ago.
The CEO of an Israeli business extracting gas from a massive field in the Eastern Mediterranean stated his company might supply Turkey if it supplied infrastructure, but he declined to comment on Erdogan’s more ambitious plan to connect the country to Europe.
Relations between the 2 nations have been strained for a number of reasons, including the killing of ten people in an Israeli attack on the Turkish Mavi Marmara ship, which was part of a flotilla attempting to break the Israeli siege on Gaza by transporting supplies into the area in 2010.
A 2016 reconciliation pact witnessed the return of diplomats after years of frozen relations, but it crumbled in 2018 in the aftermath of the Great March of Return demonstrations. Over 200 Palestinians were massacred by Israeli fire over many months while Palestinian refugees demonstrated for the right to come back to their homes in modern-day Israel, in which they were racially cleansed in 1948. The months-long demonstrations also demanded an end to Israel’s closure on the Gaza Strip.
In the latter part of last year, Turkey withdrew its ambassadors and ordered Israel’s envoy to leave the country, as bilateral ties reached a new low.
Although Herzog’s visit signifies a substantial warming in ties, the Israeli president’s office is primarily ceremonial, and any tangible moves toward peace will need Prime Minister Naftali Bennett’s permission, the visit indicates a significant improvement in ties.
The most recent visit to Turkey by an Israeli leader was in 2007, while the most recent visit by a prime minister was the subsequent year. Bennett and Erdogan spoke for the first time in years in November.
Ankara has strong connections with Hamas, which has been labelled as a “terrorist” group by the European Commission and the United States. In the past, the Turkish administration has welcomed a number of high-ranking officials.
Despite appearing to soften its condemnation of Israel before Herzog’s arrival, Ankara has stated that it would not renounce its support for Palestinian statehood.