Turkey's President Recep Tayyip Erdogan praised "renewed dialogue" with Israel as he received members of the Turkish Jewish community in Ankara on Wednesday evening.
Guests at the event included the Turkish chief rabbi, Ishak Haleva, and Russia's chief rabbi, Berel Lazar.
Erdogan said Turkey attached "great importance" to the renewed dialogue with Israel's President Isaac Herzog and Prime Minister Naftali Bennett.
Once robust regional allies, ties between Israel and Turkey have frayed throughout Erdogan's tenure, during which the Turkish leader has been an outspoken critic of Israel's policies toward the Palestinians.
Touching on recent signs of a thaw in relations, Erdogan said that Israel's attitude towards peace in the region would influence the process of normalising relations between the two countries.
"Israel's sincere and constructive attitude in the context of peace efforts will undoubtedly contribute to the normalization process," he said.
The steps toward a rapprochement with Israel comes as Turkey has been trying to end its international isolation by improving its troubled ties with several other countries in the region, including Egypt, the United Arab Emirates and Saudi Arabia.
AP
Comments About This Article
Please fill the fields below.