Turkish President Tayyip Erdogan on Wednesday hosted at his palace in Ankara a large group of rabbis, telling them he wishes to restore ties with Israel "soon".
The meeting was attended by the chief rabbi of Turkey, along with rabbis from communities, cities and countries in the Muslim world as part of a summit organized by the Alliance of Rabbis in Islamic States.
Among the Jewish leaders who attended the summit, were chief rabbis of Kazakhstan, Uzbekistan, Iran, Azerbaijan, Kyrgyzstan, Uganda, Nigeria, Albania, the United Arab Emirates, as well as Northern Cyprus and others. Due to coronavirus restrictions, the rabbis of Morocco and Tunisia were unable to physically attend the event.
During the meeting, Erdogan issued a series of surprisingly warm statements about his attitude towards Jews and Israel.
"Relations between Turkey, Jews and Israel will always be strong," he said. "Economic relations between the two countries are stronger than ever and will continue to grow."
According to the rabbis present at the meeting, Erdogan also said that normalizing relations with Israel is an important goal for him.
The Turkish president apparently received the rabbis warmly and talked about the fight against anti-Semitism, emphasizing that he would fight it just as passionately as he fought Islamophobia. Erdogan even mentioned that Turkey had signed a treaty against Holocaust denial and said it would boost Holocaust education in the country.
Erdogan, normally an ardent critic of Israel, also said he hopes to a peaceful resolution to the Israeli-Palestinian conflict. "I hope for peace and trust between Israel and the Palestinians. A peace in which everyone will respect each other."
The warming of ties between the two countries after years of hostilities, became apparent after the release of an Israeli couple held by Turkey on suspicion of espionage back in November.
The couple were arrested and detained for allegedly taking photographs of Erdogan's residence during a trip to Istanbul, but were freed a week later after a massive diplomatic campaign by Israel.