Türkiye‘s new ambassador to Tel Aviv offered his letter of credence to the Israeli president on Wednesday.
Ambassador Şakir Özkan Torunlar was acquired by Isaac Herzog at a ceremony held on the Presidential Residence in West Jerusalem.
After the ceremony, during which the Turkish National Anthem was performed, Torunlar offered his credentials to Herzog.
Speaking at a joint press convention with the Turkish envoy, Herzog mentioned that Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan‘s invitation to him for a go to to the Turkish capital was the primary necessary step taken within the rapprochement course of between each nations.
Underlining that each he and President Erdoğan welcome the development in relations between Türkiye and Israel, he mentioned: “It is no secret that the State of Israel, and I personally, attach great importance to our historical relationship with Türkiye.”
The Israeli president additionally famous that selling ties in tourism, training, tradition, power, and different fields would carry prosperity to each nations and their area.
INVITATION TO TURKISH PRESIDENT
Herzog invited his counterpart Erdoğan to Israel throughout his tackle. “I wish (to take) this opportunity as the president of Israel to invite the Turkish president to Israel, which I am certain will contribute to the relations.”
Touching on Türkiye’s regional and worldwide coverage, Herzog mentioned Türkiye’s affect was seen notably in its efforts to resolve issues associated to the Russia-Ukraine battle, together with latest prisoner swaps and a grain export deal.
For his half, Ambassador Torunlar mentioned Türkiye-Israel relations had come a great distance by way of latest bilateral visits, ensuing within the appointment of ambassadors after greater than 4 years.
“As our President (Erdoğan) pointed out, it is our common goal to revive and develop political dialogue between our countries based on mutual interests and on the basis of observing each other’s sensitivities,” Torunlar mentioned.
He emphasised that because the variety of Türkiye-origin Jewish individuals dwelling in Israel approaches 100,000, they represent the strongest bridge between the 2 Mediterranean nations.
Torunlar additionally identified that Ankara, as the primary nation within the area to acknowledge Israel, was on the identical web page with Tel Aviv on the matter of counter-terrorism.
On the standing of the Al-Aqsa Mosque in occupied East Jerusalem, Torunlar pointed to an announcement by the Israeli authorities highlighting the preservation of its establishment after a provocative raid by far-right Israeli National Security Minister Itamar Ben-Gvir final week.
“I would like to take this opportunity to state that we appreciate the Israeli authorities’ commitment to preserve the status quo of the holy places in Jerusalem, including the Harem-i Sharif (Masjid al-Aqsa),” he mentioned.
“As you know, we immediately condemned the terrorist attacks against civilians in Israel last year. Our principled stance is unchanged. Likewise, we believe that Israel will stay away from attitudes that harm Türkiye’s interests,” he famous.
He identified that bilateral commerce has elevated quickly lately and approached the edge of $10 billion, saying that they goal to extend the bilateral commerce quantity to $15 billion in a short while.
Torunlar emphasised that the Turkish administration would work along with the brand new Israeli authorities below Benjamin Netanyahu‘s premiership in each discipline and attempt to advance the cooperation between the 2 nations.
Türkiye and Israel took a number of steps in 2022 to enhance their mutual relations.
Herzog’s go to to Ankara in March 2022 was adopted by the go to of Turkish Foreign Minister Mevlüt Çavuşoğlu to Israel in May. Then-prime minister of Israel, Yair Lapid, additionally visited Türkiye in June.
On Aug. 17, 2022, Türkiye and Israel agreed to revive full diplomatic relations and mutually appoint ambassadors.
