As Turkey and Israel seek to overcome years of tensions, businesspeople of the two countries are hoping that the trip of the Israeli president to Ankara will help add pace to already thriving trade ties.
Israeli President Isaac Herzog arrived in the capital on Wednesday for talks with President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan, in the first visit by an Israeli leader to Turkey since 2007, as the two countries seek ways to mend once close relations.
The two leaders will review all aspects of Turkey-Israel ties and will address potential areas of cooperation and explore ways to deepen bilateral relations.
Ahead of the visit, Turkish and Israeli trade missions gathered in Tel Aviv to sign a memorandum of understanding (MoU) to boost cooperation.
"With the synergy and positive atmosphere spurred by Herzog’s visit to Turkey, we want both countries to provide the opportunity for mutual economic growth," Turkish Exporters’ Assembly (TIM) head Ismail Gülle told Anadolu Agency (AA).
The visit comes amid Turkey’s efforts to repair frayed relations with several countries in the region, including the United Arab Emirates (UAE), Egypt and Saudi Arabia.
Gülle stressed that after Turkey improves its trade ties with Israel and the UAE, business circles would also welcome similar steps with Egypt and Saudi Arabia.
"We will further strengthen the energy and power of Turkey’s exports with its neighbors," he noted.
A delegation from the assembly including 100 Turkish firms held more than 1,000 bilateral business meetings with over 400 Israeli companies, said Gülle.
Greater potential
He added that the mutual desire to do business seen during the meetings will take parties beyond the set targets, stressing the aim to lift Turkey’s exports to Israel to $9 billion this year.
"We have seen the potential here in the trade volume of both countries. I believe that we will achieve it and make it happen," Gülle said.
Trade between Turkey and Israel has been surging over the past five years, hitting a record $8.4 billion last year, according to official data, up from $6.2 billion in 2020.
Exports to Israel leaped more than 35% year-over-year to $6.4 billion last year, an all-time high, according to the Turkish Statistical Institute (TurkStat). Imports jumped nearly 37% to $2.1 billion.
Israel is among the countries Turkey registers a trade surplus with and has been its ninth biggest export market.
Stressing the importance of the visit by an Israeli president to Turkey after many years, Gülle said: "The improvement of our political relations will further strengthen our trade ties. Regional trade will create a very positive infrastructure for fostering regional politics that are far from war."
Israel open to Turkish imports
Uriel Lynn, head of the Federation of the Israeli Chambers of Commerce, told AA that Israel is open to Turkish imports.
There is a great potential to expand and enlarge the product range and services Turkish companies provide to Israel, he said.
He stressed that new Israeli measures pave the way for Turkey to export more vegetables and agricultural goods.
Calling Herzog’s visit to Turkey "a milestone," Lynn added: "We’re building a platform for a much stronger basis where we can really cooperate together. And that is very important."
One particular area of interest for Turkey and Israel is natural gas. Erdoğan has said the visit will herald a "new era" and that the two countries could work together to carry Israeli natural gas to Europe, reviving an idea first discussed more than 20 years ago.
Gas supplies from the Mediterranean could ease European dependence on Russian gas, a hot topic following Russia’s invasion of Ukraine and subsequent calls from European leaders to reduce the continent’s reliance on Russian gas.
Plans for a subsea pipeline from the Eastern Mediterranean to Europe, excluding Turkey, have stalled after the United States expressed misgivings in January.
Turkey has long opposed the project and has stressed that any scheme that aims to sideline the rights of Turkey and the Turkish Republic of Northern Cyprus (TRNC) in the Eastern Mediterranean will be unsuccessful.
The EastMed pipeline had enjoyed the support of the former Trump administration in the U.S. However, the Biden administration, in an apparent U-turn, in January expressed misgivings about the project, citing concerns over its economic viability and environmental costs.
Thaw in ties
Herzog’s visit marks a significant thaw in ties, although his post is largely ceremonial and any concrete steps toward rapprochement will require the approval of Prime Minister Naftali Bennett.
The last visit by an Israeli president to Turkey was in 2007 and the last trip by a prime minister came the following year. Erdoğan and Bennett spoke in November, the first such call in years.
Relations cratered in 2010 as both countries pulled their ambassadors after the deaths of 10 civilians in an Israeli raid on a Turkish flotilla that was trying to break an Israeli blockade of the Gaza Strip to deliver humanitarian aid.
Diplomatic ties hit a low in 2018 when Turkey recalled its ambassador to Israel again following the U.S. decision to relocate its embassy to Jerusalem.
Ankara, which supports a two-state solution to the Israeli-Palestinian conflict, has condemned Israel’s occupation of the West Bank and its policy toward Palestinians, while Israel has called on Turkey to drop support for the Palestinian group Hamas which runs Gaza.
Despite the rapprochement, Turkey has ruled out abandoning its commitment to supporting Palestinian statehood.