After a four-year vacancy, Israel’s ambassadorship to Turkey has been filled again. The new ambassador Irit Lillian presented her credentials to the Turkish head of state Recep Tayyip Erdogan in Ankara on Tuesday, Lillian said on Twitter. The ceremony in the presidential palace was a “very emotional moment”. “Looking forward to many more positive developments in bilateral relations,” added the ambassador, who was previously Israel’s chargé d’affaires in Ankara.
Relations between Israel and Turkey were in crisis in 2008 as a result of a large-scale Israeli military operation in the Gaza Strip. After the deaths of 10 activists in an Israeli military operation against an aid fleet destined for the Gaza Strip in 2010, the two countries put diplomatic relations on hold.
After a brief period of reconciliation beginning in 2016, Turkey withdrew its ambassador from Israel in May 2018 after the deaths of dozens of Palestinian demonstrators in clashes with the Israeli army in the Gaza Strip. She also expelled Israel’s ambassador in Ankara and the Israeli consul general in Istanbul from the country.
Finally, in August of this year, after several months of rapprochement, Israel and Turkey announced the full resumption of diplomatic relations and, with it, the return of their ambassadors.
Turkey has also appointed a new ambassador to Israel. According to Turkish media, in a November decree, Erdogan entrusted Sakir Özkan Torunlar with the task. According to the Israeli Foreign Ministry, he will present his credentials to Israeli President Isaac Herzog “soon”. Despite differences in the past, Erdogan also congratulated Prime Minister-designate Benjamin Netanyahu on his victory in November’s parliamentary elections.
