JERUSALEM\/ANKARA
\nTurkey and Israel said on Wednesday they will re-appoint respective ambassadors more than four years after they were called back, marking another milestone after months of steady improvement in relations.
\nThe two regional powers had expelled ambassadors in 2018 over the killing of 60 Palestinians by Israeli forces during protests on the Gaza border against the opening of the US Embassy in Jerusalem.
\nBut they have been working to mend long-strained ties with energy emerging as a key area for potential cooperation.
\nIsraeli Prime Minister Yair Lapid\u2019s office said on Wednesday the two countries decided to restore full diplomatic ties.
\n\u201cIt was decided to once again upgrade the level of the relations between the two countries to that of full diplomatic ties and to return ambassadors and consuls general,\u201d Lapid\u2019s office said in a statement following a conversation between the prime minister and Turkish President Tayyip Erdogan.
\n\u201cUpgrading relations will contribute to deepening ties between the two peoples, expanding economic, trade, and cultural ties, and strengthening regional stability,\u201d it added.
\nA visit to Turkey by Israeli President Isaac Herzog in March, followed by visits by both foreign ministers, helped warm relations after more than a decade of tensions.
\nTurkish Foreign Minister Mevlut Cavusoglu said the appointment of ambassadors was one of the steps in the normalisation of ties.
\n\u201cSuch a positive step came from Israel as a result of these efforts, and as Turkey, we also decided to appoint an ambassador to Israel, to Tel Aviv,\u201d Cavusoglu said at a news conference in Ankara, adding Turkey was selecting someone.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
JERUSALEM\/ANKARA Turkey and Israel said on Wednesday they will re-appoint respective ambassadors more than four years after they were called back, marking another milestone after months of steady improvement in relations. The two regional powers had expelled ambassadors in 2018 over the killing of 60 Palestinians by Israeli forces during protests on the Gaza border […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[6],"tags":[],"class_list":{"0":"post-278137","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","6":"category-world"},"yoast_head":"\n