Turkish Foreign Minister Mavlut Chavushoglu and Energy Minister Fatih Donmez are visiting Israel on Wednesday. Relations between the two countries have been strained for many years.
According to reports, this is the first visit by a Turkish minister to Israel in the last 15 years.
But Chavushoglu and Donmez are visiting the Palestinian territory before meeting with their Israeli counterparts.
In recent days, Turkey and Israel have been making efforts to improve mutual relations. Issac Herzog, the President of Israel, visited Turkey in March. The year 2010 is a milestone in the relations between the two countries.
This year an Israeli commando team killed ten Turkish activists trying to break the economic blockade of Gaza aboard the Turkish cruise ship Mavi Marmara.
The diplomatic rift between the two countries ended in 2016 when Israel announced compensation for the incident.
But tensions remained over the issue of Palestine and the status of Jerusalem.
Turkey is trying to improve its relations with many regional powers, not only Israel. It has recently tried to strengthen ties with the United Arab Emirates, Saudi Arabia and Egypt.
no diplomatic relations between the two countries
At present, there is no diplomatic relations between the two countries at the level of ambassadors. In 2018, Turkey withdrew its ambassador after the deaths of Israeli armed forces firing on protesters in Palestine.
Chavushoglu has said that he will hold talks with Israeli Foreign Minister Yer Lapid for the reinstatement of ambassadors.
Differences over the territories of Palestine and the status of Jerusalem have come in the way of close ties between the two countries. Turkish officials have been saying that relations with Israel will not be normalized at the cost of Palestine.
Turkey also strongly condemned the recent clashes at the Al-Aqsa Mosque and called the issue an obstacle to improving relations.
Turkey, however, has remained silent on the May 11 killing of Al Jazeera journalist Shirin Abu Akleh. Neither has any statement been issued by its foreign ministry, nor has President Erdoan publicly said anything on this.
What will happen to the Palestinian issue?
President Recep Tayyip Erdogan has also said that political and economic ties with Israel are "separate from the Jerusalem issue."
The Palestinian ambassador to Ankara, Fayed Mustafa, told Turkey's pro-government Sabah newspaper on 23 May that Ankara's normalizing relations with Israel do not mean ignoring Palestinian interests.
Sabah newspaper also wrote that Chavushoglu would also meet his Palestinian counterpart Riyadh al-Maliki during the visit and hold a meeting of the Turkey-Palestinian Inter-Governmental Council.
According to Israeli media reports, Chavushoglu wants to go to Al-Aqsa without Israeli officials or security.
In February, Presidential spokesman Ibrahim Kalin and Deputy Foreign Minister Sadat Onal paid a two-day visit to the region. Kalin also posed for a picture in front of the Al-Aqsa Mosque.
Will both come closer because of gas?
The secularist opposition newspaper Jamhooriyat has reported that another possible issue during the visit could be energy cooperation.
There is little hope of any "concrete development" regarding the move of Israeli natural gas to Europe via Turkey, the report said, adding that the visit would be a "first step towards establishing mutual trust."
Turkish officials and media outlets recently raised the prospect of such energy cooperation projects after Russia's attack on Ukraine, as Europe is now exploring energy sources other than Russia.
During Herzong's visit in March, Erdoan said Turkey was ready to cooperate with Israel on energy and energy security projects.
Recently, he also said that both countries will accelerate the process of oil and natural gas in the eastern Mediterranean. At the same time, he also said that he is 'very optimistic' about it.
Also Read: PM Modi-Biden Talks: Biden spoke to Modi- Prime Minister! we can be best friends on earth
U19 WC 2024 Final: There will be a title battle between Australia and India, captain Uday Saharan is confident of victory
Captain of the Indian team, which reached the Under-19 World Cup final for the fifth consecutive time, Uday Saharan has given credit for this to the mutual coordination of the players and said that
President Draupadi Murmu is coming to Maha Kumbh today and will take a holy dip in Sangam... CM Yogi will also be present.
On Monday, February 10, the first citizen of the country, President Draupadi Murmu will set foot on the holy land of Tirtharaj and will witness its grandeur and divinity. The President will take a
Covid-19: Covid test mandatory for passengers coming from China in Canada and Australia as well
Corona outbreak is increasing in China. It is believed that by the end of January, the peak of corona will come in China, that is, at that time the cases of corona will be at their peak. Meanwhile,
On the one hand, half of Pakistan is immersed in floods, and on the other hand, Imran Khan is shining in politics, the stakes should not be reversed.
On one hand, more than 6 million people in the country have been affected by the floods of Pakistan, while PTI Chief and former PM Imran Khan is not shying away from doing politics through his
CM Rekha Gupta in action mode: called a meeting of PWD, and Water Board officials, and discussed many issues including broken roads
After 27 years, the BJP government has been formed in Delhi. In the swearing-in ceremony held at Ramlila Maidan on Thursday, Shalimar Bagh Assembly MLA Rekha Gupta took oath as Chief Minister. Along
Climate Change: Weather forecast in India has become difficult due to climate change
Climate change has made weather forecasting difficult in India. To improve the forecast, the Meteorological Department is adopting more radars and high-capacity computing systems. The Director General
IND vs SA T20I series: Because of the World Cup, Indian players will have a real test against South Africa
India will try to test new and old players in the five-match T20I series against a strong South African team starting on Thursday to prepare their squad for the T20 World Cup to be held in Australia
Two more hotels bow down in Joshimath: can collide with each other anytime; Supreme Court will decide today whether it is a national disaster or not
Two more hotels have leaned towards each other in Joshimath, Uttarakhand. Their names are Snow Crest and Comet. There was a distance of about 4 feet between the two hotels, which has now reduced to
Jacqueline questioned for the second time in 5 days: EOW called again in money laundering case, last time 100 questions were asked in 8 hours
The Economic Offenses Wing (EOW) on Monday summoned actress Jacqueline Fernandez for questioning in the Rs 200 crore money laundering case. EOW has asked Jacqueline to reach out at 11 am. Along with
UGC: Return the hostel, and mess fees taken during the Corona period, UGC gave instructions to educational institutions
The University Grants Commission has taken a tough stand regarding non-refund of hostel and mess fees during the Corona period. The UGC directed all the universities and higher educational
