Israeli president ‘looks forward’ to receiving Turkish envoy’s letter

TEL AVIV

Following the Israeli envoy’s presenting a letter of credentials to Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan, Israeli President Isaac Herzog has declared that he is “looking forward” to receiving the Turkish envoy’s letter of credentials.

Posting a tweet in Turkish late on Dec. 27, Herzog said, “A giant step in Turkish-Israeli relations.”

Türkiye and Israel announced on Aug. 17 to exchange ambassadors in a bid to fully normalize bilateral ties after a long period of tension. Türkiye appointed Şakir Özkan Torunlar as the country’s new ambassador to Israel.
Israel’s new envoy to Ankara, Irit Lillian, presented her letter of credentials to Erdoğan in the Presidential Complex on Dec. 27.

Hours after, Herzog posted his tweet, making a call to Torunlar to “present his letter of credentials” as soon as possible.

“It was impressive to hear HaTikvah [Israeli national anthem] in the Presidential Complex, while Irit Lilian was in Ankara today, presenting her letter to President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan,” he said. “I am looking forward to accepting the Turkish envoy’s letter soon.”

Türkiye and Israel had withdrawn their envoys in 2018 after the latter’s security forces killed scores of civilian Palestinians protesting the United States’ decision to move the embassy from Tel Aviv to Jerusalem. The ties between the two nations have long been suffering in the past decade, first due to the “One Minute” crisis in Davos and later the killing of 10 Turkish men by the Israeli commandos in an incident dubbed the Mavi Marmara crisis.