Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan told his Israeli counterpart Isaac Herzog that synergy in the energy sector is mutually beneficial for their countries, while expressing hope that the momentum built after their recent talks will be maintained,[/B] according to a Turkish presidency statement today.
In recent weeks, Turkey and Israel have been making efforts to normalize their long-standing strained relations and energy has emerged as a potential area of cooperation. Herzog visited Turkey last month and met with Erdogan, who announced that he would send the foreign and energy ministers to Israel for talks.
The statement issued by the Turkish presidency said that Erdogan, in his telephone conversation with Herzog, also stressed that it is important to allow Palestinians to enter Israel during the Muslim holy month of Ramadan, while welcoming recent statements by Israelis and Palestinians calling for a de-escalation of tensions in the region.
Erdogan "reiterated that he expects the Israeli authorities to continue to show sensitivity by keeping the Al-Aqsa Mosque open 24 hours a day for the last 10 days of Ramadan and closed to non-Muslim visitors," the same statement said, adding that the Turkish president condemned the recent terrorist attacks in Israel.
In 2018, Turkey and Israel proceeded to expel diplomats from each other and exchanged fire over the Palestinian issue, Ankara's support for Hamas, which runs the Gaza Strip, and other issues.
Turkey, which supports the two-state solution to the Israeli-Palestinian conflict, has said it believes that a re-engagement with Israel would help find a solution to the issue, stressing that it will not abandon its commitments to the Palestinians in order to improve its relations with Israel.
Yesterday Thursday, Turkish Foreign Minister Mevlut Cavusoglu said he will visit Israel and the Palestinian territories with Energy Minister Fatih Donmez in mid-May and one of the issues he will discuss with his Israeli counterpart will be the appointment of ambassadors.
Source: protothema.gr
Contents of this article including associated images are belongs Cyprus Times
Views & opinions expressed are those of the author and/or Cyprus Times
Source
