‘New chapter’ in Turkey-Israel relations?


Tsavousoglu’s historic visit was completed with steps towards de-escalation, but without commitments for the full restoration of Turkey-Israel diplomatic relations.

It was a historic visit, the first by a Turkish foreign minister to Israel in 15 years. In the aftermath of the successive crises, Mevlüt Çavuşoλουlu’s trip ended with wishes for rapprochement, but not with commitments to restore Turkey’s diplomatic relations with Israel.

“We will not pretend that our relationship has no ups and downs, but even in times of political tension, economic cooperation between our countries is constantly expanding,” Israeli Foreign Minister Yair Lapid told a joint news conference. with his Turkish counterpart after the end of his meeting.

For his part, Tsavousoglu expressed the hope that the two governments would “deal with their differences in a more constructive way” on the Palestinian issue. “We believe that the normalization of our ties will have a positive impact on the peaceful resolution of the conflict. Turkey ready to assume responsibility by continuing efforts towards dialogue [μεταξύ Ισραήλ και Παλαιστινίων]. ”

“Thorn” the Mavi Marmara

The road to normalization, however, seems to be a long one. Bilateral relations suffered a major blow in 2010 when Israeli forces raided the Mavi Marmara, the Turkish ship carrying a humanitarian convoy bound for the besieged Gaza Strip. Nine Turkish citizens were killed in the attack and another succumbed to his injuries four years later.

In 2018, Turkey recalled its ambassador to Tel Aviv in response to the deaths of dozens of Palestinians during demonstrations on the Gaza-Israel border, as well as to the controversial relocation of the US embassy in Jerusalem by Donald Trump.

Although Tsavousoglu and Lapid announced that their ministries would continue contacts at the technical level, no reference was made to a timetable for the return of the ambassadors to Tel Aviv and Ankara.

Summer night energy dreams

On the eve of Tsavousoglu’s departure, Turkish media reported that he would be accompanied to Israel by Energy Minister Fatih Donmez in order to push for the import of Israeli gas to Turkey, as the latter is trying to partially break free from Russia. half of its needs. Donmez did not travel with the foreign minister, and the Israelis are not ready for energy co-operation until more crucial issues are resolved.

“Donmez’s departure from the mission is” an acknowledgment by the Turkish side that it has resigned aggressively – especially Erdogan – and that it must follow Israel’s pace in order to achieve what it wants, “Gabriel Mitchell told the Times of Israel. “Israel will not enter into energy cooperation with a country with which it does not have full diplomatic relations – it would be like a carriage moving in front of a horse …”

Katerina Alexandridi (dpa, Times of Israel, al-Jazeera)

Source: Deutsche Welle

Source: Capital

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