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Turkish, Israeli presidents to meet for first time after fractious decade

protest against upcoming israeli president isaac herzog visit to turkey
Protests in Istanbul on the Israeli President's upcoming visit to Turkey EPA-EFE/ERDEM SAHIN

Turkey and Israel will seek to overcome years of animosity and insults when their presidents meet for the first time in more than a decade this week, expanding a recent Turkish charm offensive with regional rivals.

The two countries have traded accusations over Israel’s occupation of Palestinian territories and Ankara’s support for the militant Islamist group Hamas which governs Gaza. Diplomatic ties hit a low in 2018 when they expelled ambassadors.

Turkey’s efforts to repair its frayed relations in the Middle East led President Tayyip Erdogan to announce in January that he had invited Israeli President Isaac Herzog for Wednesday’s talks, which both sides say will explore ways to deepen cooperation.

Erdogan has said the visit will herald a “new era” and that the two countries could work together to carry Israeli natural gas to Europe, reviving an idea first discussed more than 20 years ago.

The head of the Israeli firm pumping gas from a giant field in the east Mediterranean said his company could supply Turkey if it provided infrastructure, though he did not comment on Erdogan’s more ambitious idea to link it to Europe.

“Our position has always been clear. If you want gas, great. We are ready to give. You build the pipeline to us and we will supply gas,” Yossi Abu, chief executive of NewMed Energy, told an investors conference two weeks ago.

Gas supplies from the Mediterranean could ease European dependence on Russian gas. Plans for a subsea pipeline from the east Mediterranean to Europe, excluding Turkey, have stalled after the United States expressed misgivings in January.

Turkey imports most of its energy but has announced a discovery of 540 billion cubic metres of natural gas in the Black Sea and hopes to extract it next year.

A TENSE DECADE

Although his post is largely ceremonial and any concrete steps towards rapprochement will require approval of Prime Minister Naftali Bennett, Herzog’s visit marks a significant thaw in ties.

The last visit by an Israeli president to Turkey was in 2007 and the last trip by a prime minister came the following year. Erdogan and Bennett spoke in November, the first such call in years.

Relations cratered in 2010 when Israeli commandos enforcing a naval blockade of Gaza killed 10 Turkish activists during a raid on the Mavi Marmara boat, which was carrying aid to the enclave.

Through the years of animosity, the countries have maintained trade, which stood at $6.7 billion in 2021, up from $5 billion in 2019 and 2020, according to official data.

Turkey has hosted several senior officials from Hamas, which the United States and European Union have designated a terrorist organisation. Despite visibly toning down its criticism of Israel ahead of Herzog’s visit, it has ruled out abandoning its commitment to supporting Palestinian statehood.

Sami Abu Zuhri, a Hamas political official in Turkey, told Reuters that ties between the group and Ankara were “stable” and that media reports about Turkey pressuring Hamas to rein in its criticism of Israel were “unfounded and incorrect.”

KEY EVENTS LEADING UP TO WEDNESDAY’S MEETING

May 2010 – Israeli commandos kill nine Turkish activists in a raid of the Mavi Marmara ship, which was leading a flotilla carrying aid toward Gaza. They were enforcing a naval blockade of the Hamas-run Palestinian territory. A tenth activist wounded in the incident died in 2014 after years in a coma.

September 2011 – Ankara downgrades Israel’s diplomatic presence in Turkey to second secretary level, effectively expelling Israeli diplomats after the release of a U.N. report on the raid.

March 2013 – In a phone call to Erdogan engineered by U.S. President Barack Obama, Israel’s then-Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu apologises to Turkey for errors that might have led to the deaths of the activists on the Mavi Marmara.

December 2015 – Israel and Turkey reach a preliminary deal to normalise relations including the return of ambassadors.

June 2016 – The two countries sign a deal to restore ties after the six-year rift, formalising an agreement which then-U.N. Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon said sent a “hopeful signal” for regional stability.

November 2016 – Erdogan names a new ambassador to Israel, reciprocating a move by the Israelis, in a further step towards restoring diplomatic ties.

June 2017 – Turkey’s finance minister is quoted as saying Israel had paid total compensation of $20 million to the families of victims of the Israeli raid on the aid flotilla.

May 2018 – Turkey and Israel expel each other’s senior diplomats in a dispute over the killing by Israeli forces of 60 Palestinians during protests on the Gaza border against the opening of the U.S. Embassy in Jerusalem. Erdogan described the bloodshed as genocide and called Israel a terrorist state.

December 2019 – Israel opposes an accord signed the previous month between Libya and Turkey mapping out maritime boundaries in the eastern Mediterranean. Israel, Greece and Cyprus sign a deal the following month to build a pipeline to carry natural gas to Europe, a project opposed by Turkey that later stalled.

November 2021 – Turkey frees an Israeli couple that had been arrested for photographing Erdogan’s residence in Istanbul and accused of spying, an allegation denied by Israel. Israeli Prime Minister Naftali Bennett later spoke with Erdogan – the first conversation between Turkish and Israeli leaders since 2013, according to Bennett’s office.

February 2022 – Erdogan says Turkey and Israel can work together to carry Israeli natural gas to Europe and the two countries will discuss energy cooperation during talks in March.

February 2022 – Foreign Minister Mevlut Cavusoglu says ahead of Herzog’s visit that Turkey will not turn its back on its commitment to a Palestinian state in order to broker closer ties with Israel.

March 2022 – Turkey and Israel say their presidents will discuss steps to improve cooperation and review bilateral ties during Herzog’s visit.

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