Israel, Turkey exchange Ambassadors to Trkiye

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Israel, Turkey exchange Ambassadors to Trkiye

Israeli President Isaac Herzog speaks at the Jerusalem Post 10th annual conference in Jerusalem on October 12, 2021. Gil COHEN-MAGEN AFP JERUSALEM Turkish Ambassador Sakir Ozkan Torunlar presented his credentials to Israel's President Isaac Herzog on Wednesday, marking the latest step in rebuilding relations between the two countries after years of acrimony.

Herzog made a statement on his behalf, highlighting the importance of relations between Israel and T rkiye. Herzog said today that we complete another important step, reaching another milestone in the strengthening of our relations and deepening of the friendship between T rkiye and Israel.

Herzog's office said the Israeli president invited T rkiye's President Recep Tayyip Erdogan to visit Israel.

In December, Israel's new ambassador to T rkiye, Irit Lillian, presented her credentials to Erdogan.

ALSO READ: Erdogan: T rkiye's support for Palestinian cause is unminished.

The exchange of ambassadors follows an agreement between the two countries in August, in which they agreed to restore full diplomatic ties.

Israel's prime minister Benjamin Netanyahu, who had served as prime minister from 2009 to 2021, returned to power as the leader of the country's most far-right government after a ceremony in Jerusalem.

Israel-T rkiye relations have gone through a string of crises once close allies. In 2010, T Rkiye cut its diplomatic ties with Israel after Israeli commandos raided a Turkish flotilla that was bringing aid to the blockaded Gaza Strip, led by the Mavi Marmara ship. Ten Turkish activists were killed.

In 2016 Israel agreed to pay $20 million to the families of the Mavi Marmara victims.

The short-lived normalization lasted two years. In 2018, bilateral relations were strained again and the two expelled each other's top diplomats amid a dispute over the Israeli killing of 60 Palestinians in Gaza during their protests against the opening of the US Embassy in Jerusalem.