A thaw in relations four years ago in recent months, and the two countries, once close regional allies, will exchange ambassadors once again.
The March meeting between Israeli President Isaac Herzog, left, and Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan, was a sign of their countries' efforts to restore fractured relations.
JERUSALEM - After years of tense and on-again relations, Israel and Turkey announced on Wednesday that they are restoring full diplomatic relations and will exchange ambassadors again after not doing so for four years.
On signs of a recent thaw, in March Turkish President Isaac Herzog was greeted with pomp and ceremony by Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan during a state visit that both sides described as an attempt to restore previously severed ties between the two regions. allies. The visit was the highest-level meeting of an Israeli leader in Turkey in 14 years.
Interim Israeli Prime Minister, Yair Lapid, said in a statement on Wednesday that the resumption of relations with Turkey is “an important asset for regional stability and very important economic news for the citizens of Israel,” adding: “We will continue to strengthen standing in the world.”
Herzog's visit in March was followed by a visit by Turkish Foreign Minister Mevlut Cavusoglu to Israel in May, the first such visit in 15 years. In June, Mr. Lapid visited Ankara, the Turkish capital, as Israel's foreign minister, in part to thank Turkish authorities for their help in thwarting what officials described as a recent Iranian plot to kidnap or kill Israeli citizens in Istanbul. .
Mr. Lapid is acting prime minister in the caretaker government, and national elections are scheduled for November 1 - Israel's fifth vote in less than four years. His office said the restoration of full diplomatic relations with Turkey came on the heels of understandings reached during his visit to Ankara and a subsequent conversation with Mr. Erdogan.
Mr. Cavusoglu described the reappointment of Turkey's ambassador to Israel as "important in the development of bilateral relations".
Turkey cut diplomatic ties after a bloody 2010 confrontation between Israeli commandos and Turkish activists aboard a passenger ship that attempted to breach the Israeli naval blockade of the Gaza Strip, the Palestinian coast. Under the control of the Islamic resistance movement Hamas.
The ship, the Mavi Marmara, was part of a flotilla carrying aid to Gaza when Israeli naval commandos stormed its deck and killed nine activists after meeting fierce resistance. Later, a tenth activist died of his wounds.