Israeli FM Lapid gets warm welcome in Ankara
Israeli Foreign Minister Yair Lapid is the latest regional leader to be greeted in Ankara as Turkey takes a fresh approach to its regional ties.
ISTANBUL — Israeli Foreign Minister Yair Lapid signaled improving ties with Turkey during a visit to Ankara on Thursday, more than a decade after relations between the regional heavyweights were ruptured.
“In the last year there was great progress in relations between Israel and Turkey,” Lapid said during a joint news conference with Turkish Foreign Minister Mevlut Cavusoglu in Ankara.
“We began to hold discussions on returning ambassadors in the near future and on improving our economic and political dialogue. I hope that we will complete these steps very soon.”
Turkey expelled the Israeli ambassador and withdrew its envoy to Tel Aviv in 2018 after dozens of Palestinians protesting the relocation of the US Embassy to Jerusalem were killed by Israeli security forces.
