Israel's Netanyahu to visit Turkey after 14 years as ties with Erdogan improve

Al-Monitor Staff

Jul 20, 2023

This combination of pictures created on April 1, 2018 shows a file photo taken on November 19, 2017 of Israel's Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu (L) attending the weekly cabinet meeting in Jerusalem and a file photo taken on December 15, 2017 of Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan during the inauguration ceremony of Turkey's first automated urban metro line on the Asian side of Istanbul. Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan accused Benjamin Netanyahu on April 1, 2018 of being "a terrorist" after the I — This combination of pictures created on April 1, 2018 shows file photos taken on Nov. 19, 2017 of Israel's Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu (L) and on Dec. 15, 2017 of Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan. — RONEN ZVULUN, OZAN KOSE/AFP via Getty Images

ANKARA — Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu will visit Turkey next week to meet his Turkish counterpart, Recep Tayyip Erdogan, Ankara announced on Wednesday.

The Turkish statement said the two leaders will meet on July 28 to discuss steps to improve cooperation as well as international and regional issues.

The frenemies will meet for the first time in 14 years amid swiftly improving ties after years of locking horns. The last time Netanyahu visited Turkey was in 2009, before a military raid on a Gaza-bound humanitarian aid flotilla that killed nine Turkish activists in 2010. After the incident, the two countries severed their diplomatic relations.

Several efforts to restore ties failed until last year, when Israeli President Isaac Herzog visited Turkey in March. Herzog’s visit came as part of Ankara’s regional fence-mending with its former regional foes, including Israel, Egypt, Saudi Arabia and the United Arab Emirates.