Israeli and Turkish flags > Newtimes.az, CC BY-SA 4.0, via Wikimedia Commons
In a further sign of warming ties between Israel and Turkey, President Recep Tayyip Erdogan indicated on Monday that he plans to visit the Jewish state.
Speaking to a group of American Jewish leaders in New York on Monday, Erdogan also told the room that antisemitism is a “crime against humanity”.
The comments came after Israel and Turkey decided to restore full diplomatic ties and the exchanging of ambassadors in August this year.
Erdogan did not say exactly when he would visit the Jewish state at the event convened by the Turkish embassy in New York and Conference of Presidents of Major American Jewish Organisations.
Ankara and Jerusalem have had frosty relations over the past decade, following conflict between the Israeli military and Turkish activists attempting to enter Gaza in 2010.
Israeli prime minister Yair Lapid is due to meet with Erdogan on the sidelines of the UN General Assembly in New York this week, the first time leaders of the two countries have met since 2008.
Erdogan has been seeking to improve ties with the West and its allies since the start of Russia’s invasion of Ukraine in February, as well as ensuring a Turkish role in the exploration and development of natural gas in the eastern Mediterranean.
