ANKARA: Türkiye and Israel will mutually reappoint ambassadors, Foreign Minister Mevlüt Çavuşoğlu said on Wednesday, marking a milestone in the two countries’ efforts to normalize ties.
“The steps we would take to normalize relations include mutually reappointing of ambassadors. At the news conference we held with (Israeli Prime Minister Yair) Lapid in this hall, we made a statement that we started the work on the appointment of ambassadors.
“As a result of these efforts, such a positive step came from Israel. Of course, we, as Türkiye, have decided to appoint an ambassador to Israel, to Tel Aviv,” Çavuşoğlu told a news conference with his Kyrgyz counterpart Jeenbek Kulubaev.
The top diplomat said the process will begin after both the countries present the names of the ambassadors.
He also said that the decision to restore full diplomatic relations with Israel after a decade of tensions did not mean that Türkiye would abandon its support for Palestinians.
“We are not giving up on the Palestinian cause,” Çavuşoğlu told reporters. “It is important for our messages to be conveyed directly through the ambassador (on the Palestinian issue).”In May, Çavuşoğlu visited Israel, the first by a Turkish foreign minister in 15 years.
Israel and Türkiye have decided to restore full diplomatic ties and will send ambassadors to each other’s country following a steady improvement in relations, Israeli Prime Minister Yair Lapid’s office also said on Wednesday.
“Upgrading relations will contribute to deepening ties between the two peoples, expanding economic, trade, and cultural ties, and strengthening regional stability,” said a statement issued following a conversation between Lapid and President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan.
Meanwhile, the U.S. Embassy in Ankara welcomed the decision.
The two countries expelled ambassadors in 2018 over the killing of 60 Palestinians by Israeli forces during protests on the Gaza border against the opening of the U.S. Embassy in Jerusalem.
A visit to Türkiye by Israeli President Isaac Herzog in March, followed by visits by both foreign ministers, helped warm relations after more than a decade of tensions.
“It was decided to once again upgrade the level of the relations between the two countries to that of full diplomatic ties and to return ambassadors and consuls general from the two countries,” the statement said. –Agencies
