Erdogan insists on ‘developing bilateral relations’ with Israel over gas

Gas co-operation is one of the most important steps Turkey and Israel can take in an effort to repair ties, and Israeli Prime Minister Naftali Bennett may visit Turkey, Turkish President Tayyip Erdogan said on Friday.

Earlier in March, Erdogan said he believed Israeli President Isaac Herzog’s visit to Turkey would be a turning point in long-running strained relations between regional powers and that Ankara was ready for energy co-operation.

“In this process, Israeli Prime Minister Bennett can also come. With his arrival, too, there may be an opportunity to start a new era in Turkey-Israel ties,” Erdogan told reporters on the return flight. NATO summit in Brussels.

“One of the most important steps we can take together for bilateral ties, I believe, will be gas,” he added, adding that details of the co-operation would be discussed later during his foreign and energy ministers’ visit to Israel.

Our position on the S-400 does not change

Turkey’s position on acquiring Russian S-400 missile defense systems remains unchanged and the issue is a “finished deal”, President Tayyip Erdogan reportedly said on Friday, adding talks with Washington on the new F-16 jet. and kits were going well.

Haberturk reported that Erdogan told reporters on a return flight from the NATO summit in Brussels that he hoped positive talks on the purchase of new F-16 jets and modernization kits from Washington would yield results soon.

He also dismissed reports that US officials had unofficially raised with Turkey the unlikely possibility of sending S-400 systems to Ukraine amid a Russian invasion, saying “all they are doing is causing unrest” in relation to Washington.

Erdogan said he also discussed the possibility of purchasing SAMP-T missile defense systems from the Franco-Italian consortium Eurosam with French President Emanuel Macron and Italian Prime Minister Mario Draghi at the summit.