Israeli President Isaac Herzog met with his Turkish counterpart Recep Tayyip Erdoğan in a historic meeting in Ankara on Wednesday wherein they agreed to completely normalise ties despite several longstanding disputes. Herzog’s trip marked the first time an Israeli head of state has visited Turkey in over 14 years since former President Shimon Peres back in 2007.
“It is in our hands to contribute to making peace, serenity and the culture of co-existence prevail once again in our region,” Erdoğan said in a joint press conference with Herzog at the Presidential Complex in Ankara. Highlighting the need for Turkey and Israel to further “advance […] bilateral cooperation and regional dialogue,” he noted that this would lead to both sides resolving “their differences of opinion.”
President Herzog of Israel at the Presidential Complex https://t.co/grGBxMDV1H pic.twitter.com/X1EPV0a9xU
— Presidency of the Republic of Türkiye (@trpresidency) March 9, 2022
Relations between the two countries have remained tense since the Mavi Marmara incident of 2010, when Israeli commandos forcibly boarded a Turkish flotilla on its way to the Gaza Strip and killed ten Turkish activists. Israel’s settlement policy in the West Bank and Turkey’s support for Hamas have also acted as major roadblocks in re-establishing normal relations.
Furthermore, ties completely broke down in 2018 when Turkey recalled its ambassador to Israel over ex-United States (US) President Donald Trump’s decision to recognise Jerusalem as Israel’s capital. Israel reciprocated by recalling its ambassador. Both sides have not reappointed their ambassadors so far.
However, in recent times, Erdoğan has expressed his interest in improving ties with Israel and has taken several steps in this regard. In 2020, the Turkish President said that his country would like to have better relations with Israel and in the following year he held a phone call with Herzog to realise this goal.
Furthermore, in November last year, Turkey released an Israeli couple who were arrested on espionage charges on the intervention of Erdoğan. At the time, Israeli Prime Minister Naftali Bennett thanked the Turkish President for his “personal involvement” in returning the couple and praised Turkey’s “handling of the issue, at all echelons.”
This is a key moment in 🇮🇱🇹🇷 relations. We won't always agree on everything, but I expect us to work together towards the stability, prosperity, peace & security of our region, for the sake of all nations here. Good neighborly relations in the Eastern Med are important to us all. pic.twitter.com/PmUKPw0xxs
— יצחק הרצוג Isaac Herzog (@Isaac_Herzog) March 9, 2022
Against this backdrop, the Turkish President said that Herzog’s “historic visit will constitute a new milestone” in bilateral ties. “It is our shared goal that we revive the political dialogue between our countries on the basis of common interests and respect for mutual sensitivities,” Erdoğan stressed.
Erdoğan also emphasised the importance of Turkey and Israel “unleashing” their potential for cooperation, especially in the sectors of the economy, commerce, defence, and health. In this respect, he promised to increase Turkey’s bilateral trade with Israel from $8.5 billion in 2021 to $10 billion in 2022.
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Erdoğan’s statement focused on developing energy ties in the Mediterranean region and said that Herzog’s meeting is an “opportunity to re-implement the cooperation” in energy. Noting that Turkey and Israel have several research and exploration vessels that can search for energy reserves in the Mediterranean, Erdoğan said that both sides can “plan and conduct” joint exploration in the Mediterranean.
Finally, he touched on the issue of Palestine and told Herzog about “the importance we [Turkey] attach to de-escalating the tensions in our region and preserving the vision for a two-state solution.” He urged Israel to improve the socio-economic conditions of Palestinians and support the activities of Turkish aid organisations like the Turkish Red Crescent in the Palestinian Territories.
Herzog thanked Erdoğan for his initiative to improve relations and said he hoped that his visit will lay the “foundations for the cultivation of friendly relations between our states and our peoples, and to build bridges that are critical for all of us.”
“We must agree in advance that we will not agree on everything. Such is the nature of a relationship with a past as rich as ours. But we shall aspire to solve our disagreements with mutual respect and goodwill,” Herzog remarked.
Reacting to Herzog’s visit, a Palestinian Authority (PA) official told The Jerusalem Post on Thursday that the PA “doesn’t expect Turkey to change its longstanding policies of supporting the Palestinians.” On the other hand, the Gazan militant groups Hamas and the Islamic Jihad condemned Erdoğan’s meeting with Herzog. While Hamas expressed “sorrow” over the meeting, the Islamic Jihad called it an “abandonment of Jerusalem and Palestine.”
However, both Israel and Turkey have agreed to build on Herzog’s visit and continue mutual dialogue. Erdoğan announced that Foreign Minister Mevlüt Çavuşoğlu and Energy Minister Fatih Dönmez are set to separately visit Israel in the coming days.