JTA — Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan told a group of Jewish leaders in New York Monday that he plans to visit Israel, another sign he intends to restore a long-battered relationship.
Erdogan also told a room full of leaders from American Jewish organizations that anti-Semitism is a “crime against humanity,” said an attendee at the Jewish Telegraphic Agency meeting.
The meeting, convened under the auspices of the Turkish Embassy and the Conference of Presidents of Major American Jewish Organizations, took place in New York City, where the United Nations General Assembly gathered international diplomats this week.
Erdogan did not say when he would visit him.
Turkey and Israel announced last month that they plan to fully restore diplomatic ties, which have been marred since 2010, when an Israeli commando attack on the Gaza-bound Mavi Marmara, part of a blockade-busting flotilla, killed March 10 Turkish activists were killed in a violent melee after attacking Israeli soldiers boarding the ship.
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President Isaac Herzog visited Turkey in March, and the State Department announced a new ambassador to Turkey on Monday. There has been no ambassador to the country since 2018, when Turkey recalled its ambassador and asked Israel to leave the country to protest Israel’s response to unrest at the Gaza border that has killed dozens of Palestinians.
President Isaac Herzog (left) and Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan at the Presidential Palace in Ankara on March 9, 2022. (Haim Zach/GPO)
Prime Minister Yair Lapid is set to meet Erdogan on the sidelines of the General Assembly, the first meeting of the two countries’ leaders since 2008.
Erdogan is trying to strengthen ties with the West as Russia prolongs its war against Ukraine. He also wants to ensure that Turkey is included in the development of energy exploration in the eastern Mediterranean, which has so far been spearheaded by Israel and Greece.
Israel is trying to build on the 2020 Abraham Accords, which normalized relations between Israel and four Arab countries. Israel hopes to include more Arab and Muslim-majority countries in the agreements.
As one of the countries with direct ties to Hamas, the terrorist group that controls the Gaza Strip, Turkey has also been a go-between for Israel.
On Sunday, the Turkish government’s official Twitter account posted on Twitter a video of Erdogan strolling through Central Park, including a cheerful encounter with a Queens rabbi, Rachel Goldenberg.
Cumhurbaşkanı @RTErdoganBM 77. Genel Kurulu’na katılmak için bulunduğu New York kentindeki Central Park’ta bir süre yürüyüş yaptı. pic.twitter.com/2lbU7w9TIv
— TC Cumhurbaşkanlığı (@tcbestepe) September 18, 2022
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