President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan talked with his Israeli counterpart Isaac Herzog on the phone on Monday evening, media outlets reported Tuesday. The two leaders exchanged greetings on the occasion of the upcoming Islamic holy month of Ramadan and April’s Passover. Erdoğan stressed the importance of prevention of “provocation and threats towards Al-Aqsa mosque” especially during Ramadan.
Israel has placed restrictions on Palestinian men from the occupied West Bank entering the Al-Aqsa Mosque for Friday prayers during the Islamic holy month of Ramadan. Palestinian men between the ages of 12 and 55 have been banned from entering the mosque.
The two leaders also discussed bilateral ties and reaffirmed their determination to strengthen relations. Herzog visited Türkiye in March 2022 in the first visit by an Israeli head of state since 2007 as Ankara and Tel Aviv sought to mend their fractured ties. The two countries have agreed to mutually appoint ambassadors.
The countries withdrew their respective ambassadors in 2010 after Israeli forces stormed a Gaza-bound flotilla carrying humanitarian aid for the Palestinians that broke an Israeli blockade. The incident resulted in the deaths of nine Turkish activists. Relations broke down again in 2018 when Türkiye, angered by the United States moving its embassy in Israel to Jerusalem, once more recalled its ambassador, prompting Israel to respond in kind. The two countries have not reappointed their ambassadors for a long time before Irit Lillian presented her credential to Erdoğan as the new ambassador of Israel last December. Türkiye, in return, appointed a new ambassador Şakir Özkan Torunlar, who presented his credentials to Herzog in January.
Erdoğan voiced deep concern to the Israeli president over rising attacks in the occupied West Bank in the phone call.
The Turkish leader thanked Herzog for Israel’s solidarity with Türkiye following the Feb. 6 earthquakes and the aid it sent. He also thanked the Israeli president for his efforts to preserve peace in Israel and the status quo over the Al-Aqsa Mosque.
Netanyahu's return to power at the head of a nationalist-religious government in December has rattled Palestinians and Western and Arab allies who fear it could heighten tensions in the Middle East. Türkiye has joined a chorus of condemnation of a visit by Israel's new far-right National Security Minister Itamar Ben-Gvir to the sensitive Al-Aqsa Mosque complex in East Jerusalem, Islam's third holiest site and Judaism's most sacred.
