Prime Minister Yair Lapid on Wednesday evening spoke with Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan after the two countries announced restoring full diplomatic relations.
Lapid and Erdogan thanked each other for the move and agreed on the further development of bilateral ties “that will lead to many achievements, especially in the fields of commerce and tourism,” according to an official statement by Lapid's office.
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Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan and Prime Minister Yair Lapid
(Photo: AP, EPA)
“This will be reflected in the resumption of Israeli flights to Turkey and the upcoming convening of the Joint Economic Commission in Israel in September,” the statement said.
The two leaders also emphasized the great importance of Israeli-Turkish relations “for maintaining regional stability.”
Earlier on Wednesday, Israel and Turkey decided to restore full diplomatic ties and reinstate their ambassadors following months of steady improvement in relations.
President Isaac Herzog welcomed the normalization on his Twitter page, writing: "I commend the renewal of full diplomatic relations with Turkey—an important development that we've been leading for the past year, which will encourage greater economic relations, mutual tourism, and friendship between the Israeli and Turkish peoples."
Turkish Foreign Minister Mevlut Cavusoglu in turn underlined that despite the normalization of ties with Israel, Ankara is “not giving up on the Palestinian cause.”