ANKARA, Turkey — Five days before Israel’s election, Defense Minister Benny Gantz traveled to Turkey on an official visit as a guest of Turkish Defense Minister Hulusi Akar. Shortly after landing in Ankara, it was announced that Gantz will also meet with Turkey’s President Recep Tayyip Erdogan.
This is the first visit of an Israeli defense minister to Turkey in a decade, after relations between Israel and Turkey grew very cold in light of differences on the Palestinian issue and following the Mavi Marmara flotilla incident (with nine Turkish nationals killed by Israel Defense Forces fire). Still, despite the hostility, along the years contact between the Israeli and Turkish defense establishments was never severed. The two nations cooperated discreetly, especially in the realm of intelligence.
The two nations have grown closer recently in light of shared interests. Ankara is interested in using Jerusalem to get closer to Washington and advance defense deals with the United States. Jerusalem is interested in having Ankara take action against terrorism, and not allow terror agents like Hamas’ Saleh al-Arouri to operate from its territory.
In his meetings with Erdogan and with Akar, Gantz discussed a variety of security issues of mutual concerns, including renewal of security ties, the presence of Hamas activists on Turkish soil, Iranian presence in Syria, the Palestinian issue and Israel’s alliance with Greece and Cyprus.
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