"We agreed to reenergize our relations in several fields," Foreign Minister Mevlüt Çavuşoğlu said at a press conference with his Israeli counterpart Yair Lapid on Wednesday, in the official first visit to Israel after 15 years.
Lapid for his part said that Turkey and Israel are opening a new chapter in relations and aim to expand economic ties while beginning to work on a new civil aviation agreement.
"The goal is to form and expand economic and civil cooperation between our countries to create business to business and people to people and to leverage our two countries, comparative advantages regionally and globally, even during the pandemic, and even in times of political tension," Lapid said.
Turkey and Israel have recently been trying to turn a new page in their relationship, which was marked by the visit of Israeli President Isaac Herzog and his meeting with President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan in Ankara in March.
The countries withdrew their respective ambassadors in 2010 after Israeli forces stormed a Gaza-bound flotilla carrying humanitarian aid for Palestinians that broke an Israeli blockade. The incident resulted in the deaths of nine Turkish activists.
Relations broke down again in 2018 when Turkey, 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.
Speaking on the Palestinian issue, Çavuşoğlu also reiterated that Turkey believes that a two-state solution is the only solution for the Israeli-Palestinian conflict and that ties between Turkey and Israel will help work toward a solution.
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