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During his visit to Israel, Turkish Foreign Minister Mevlut Cavusoglu stated that improving relations with Israel would help the Palestinian people.
Cavusoglu, who met with Palestinian officials in the West Bank, visited Jerusalem on May 25, the first visit by a senior Turkish official in more than 15 years. Turkey and Israel are trying to improve relations between them, as they deteriorated in 2008, due to an Israeli military operation in the Gaza Strip.
Relations between the two countries were completely severed in 2010, when Israeli forces raided a Turkish humanitarian ship, during an operation that left 10 dead, all with Turkish citizenship.
Cavusoglu and his Israeli counterpart, Yair Lapid, stressed that economic ties had continued to grow, despite years of hostility between the two countries.
“We will not claim that our relationship has not seen its ups and downs. “Even in times when political tensions have been high, economic cooperation between our two countries has been growing steadily,” said Lapid.
Addressing the Israeli-Palestinian conflict, Cavusoglu said Turkey and Israel could “address their differences in a more constructive way.”
“Turkey is ready to assume its responsibility and continue to contribute to the dialogue between Israel and Palestine.” he declared.
After meeting with Lapid, Cavusoglu visited the Al-Aqsa Mosque in eastern Jerusalem, the third holiest site in the Islamic world, and the scene of repeated clashes between Palestinians and Israeli police during the holy month of Ramadan.
More than 200 people, mostly Palestinians, have been injured in recent weeks.
Cavusoglu said earlier that the dialogue between Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan and his Israeli counterpart, Isaac Herzog, helped “keep calm” during Ramadan.
Last month, Erdogan telephoned his Israeli counterpart after clashes in Al-Aqsa, known to Jews as the Temple Mount and the holiest site in Judaism.
Erdogan remains a vocal supporter of the Palestinian cause, but analysts say he wants to improve relations with Israel to strengthen Turkey’s troubled economy, including joint gas initiatives.
In his meeting with Lapid, Cavusoglu noted that Turkey was one of the top 10 trading partners for Israel and a major destination for Israeli tourists, expressing hope that deepening ties could bring benefits to the Palestinians.
“We believe that the normalization of our relations will have a positive impact on the peaceful resolution of the conflict.” he said.
During Cavusoglu’s visit to Ramallah on Tuesday, Turkey signed nine new pacts with the Palestinian Authority, in areas such as agriculture, education and trade./ REL
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