Turkish Foreign Minister Mevlüt Çavuşoğlu will travel to Israel on May 25, the first foreign ministerial-level visit to Israel from Turkey in the past 15 years, according to Turkish media.
Çavuşoğlu’s visit will be another step in the normalization of relations between the two countries.
The Turkish foreign minister will meet with Yair Lapid, the alternate prime minister and foreign minister of Israel since 2021, in Tel Aviv. The ministers are expected to discuss expanding economic and political relations between the two countries during their meeting.
One day before arriving in Israel, Çavuşoğlu will pay a visit to Palestine where he will meet with Palestinian Foreign Minister Riyad al-Maliki.
In a recent statement to journalists who asked whether Turkey and Israel would reappoint ambassadors, Çavuşoğlu said he would be paying a visit to Israel on May 25 and that the issue would be discussed at that time.
Relations between majority-Muslim Turkey and Israel froze over after the deaths of 10 civilians in an Israeli raid on a Turkish flotilla carrying aid for the Gaza Strip in 2010.
A 2015 reconciliation pact formally restored ties, but neither country returned an ambassador to post, with Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan frequently criticizing Israeli actions in the Palestinian territories.
The two countries have recently proclaimed a new era in relations following more than a decade of diplomatic rupture.
Israeli President Isaac Herzog made a landmark visit to Ankara in March to build relations with his Turkish counterpart. It was the first visit by an Israeli president since 2007.
After its foreign policy left Turkey isolated in its region and beyond, Ankara launched a charm offensive in 2020 to repair ties with estranged rivals such as Israel, Egypt and the United Arab Emirates.
