Israeli president due in Turkey mid-March

ANKARA

Alamy Photo

Turkey and Israel are on the same page for the reconciliation of bilateral relations after a nearly four-year incommunicado, President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan has said, announcing that Israeli President Isaac Herzog will pay a visit to Turkey in mid-March.

“[The visit of the Israeli president] will take place in mid-March,” Erdoğan said at a press conference before his departure to Ukraine on Feb. 3. He was responding a question about the timing and the scope of Herzog’s visit.

Turkey and Israel have lowered their diplomatic ties after the former’s strong reaction against the killing of scores of Palestinians by security officials during a protest against the United States’ decision to move its embassy from Tel Aviv to Jerusalem in 2017.

Erdoğan informed that the special envoys of the two sides are in a process of preparing the necessary conditions and infrastructure for Herzog’s trip to Turkey through reciprocal visits. He also hinted that Turkey’s special envoy may hold talks with the Israeli counterparts in the coming days in Israel.

“We will exert efforts to move our bilateral relations to a very different place. I can tell that they also have the same approach,” Erdoğan stated. “We will carry out the preliminary work and then start the process,” he added.

Erdoğan and Herzog had exchanged phone conversations in the past months. Similarly, the two countries’ foreign ministers, Mevlüt Çavuşoğlu and Yair Lapid, also talked on the phone, in the first such conversation in the past 13 years.

Strong reaction against Council of Europe

On a question about the Committee of Ministers of the Council of Europe’s decision to formally start an infringement procedure against Turkey due to non-compliance of the European Court of Human Rights (ECHR) ruling on jailed businessman Osman Kavala, Erdoğan strongly slammed the Strasbourg-based international organization.

“We never recognize those who don’t recognize our courts. What the ECHR has said, or what the Council of Europe has said, are not our concern,” Erdoğan said, adding, “We are expecting respect toward our justice.”

The Committee of Ministers, in a majority vote, decided to ask the ECHR whether Turkey has infringed the European Convention of Human Rights by not releasing Kavala who has been in jail since 2017. In case the ECHR reports the infringement, the Committee of Ministers, the political body of the Council of Europe, will start to discuss what sort of sanctions should be imposed on Turkey.

Greece continues mistreatment of migrants

Erdoğan, on a question about the Greek government’s mistreatment on the migrants, criticized Athens for not acting in line with humanity and for deliberately risking their lives. At least 12 migrants froze to death after they were pushed back by the Greek security.

“It’s not the first time that we see this,” Erdoğan said, also lashing out at the world and the European Union for remaining silent to such incidents. “There is this Frontex with no use at all. The only thing it does is supporting Greece,” he said, noting that he will show the video recordings of Greek pushbacks and other inhumane treatment against the migrants to the world leaders at every meeting.