Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan and Israeli Prime Minister Yair Lapid are set to have a landmark meeting in New York tomorrow as the US decision to lift arms embargoes against Cyprus has added a fresh strain in already high-running Eastern Mediterranean tensions.

The two leaders’ meeting on the sidelines of the UN General Assembly, will mark the first of its kind since 2008, after a series of rapprochement steps between Israel and Turkey — the latest of which came today when Israel appointed Irit Lillian, Israel’s charge d’affaires in Ankara since early 2021, as the new ambassador to Turkey. The two countries decided to fully restore their diplomatic ties last month after years of locking horns. Ahead of tomorrow's meeting, Erdogan today met with Ronald Lauder, the president of the World Jewish Congress, and other leaders of the American Jewish community. 

The rapprochement came as part of Ankara’s intensified efforts to mend ties with its former regional rivals partly in a bid to counterbalance their increasing cooperation with Greece and Cyprus. 

Escalating tensions between Turkey, Cyprus and Greece in the Eastern Mediterranean over conflicting territorial claims are expected to be among the agenda items during the meeting tomorrow as Turkey is seeking to position itself as an energy corridor to carry Israeli gas to Europe after the war in Ukraine.