Erdogan signals thaw in ties with "Israel"

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Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan revealed that Israeli President Isaac Herzog might visit Turkey.

Erdogan said during a press conference this evening, on Tuesday, with his Serbian counterpart, Aleksandar Vucic, in the Turkish capital, Ankara, that there are ongoing talks with the Israeli President who could visit Turkey.

"We are now holding talks with President (Isaac) Herzog. He could visit us in Turkey. Prime Minister (Naftali) Bennett also has a positive approach," Erdogan said.

"As Turkey, we will do our best to cooperate on a win-win basis," he added. "As politicians, we should not be there to fight but to live in peace."

Erdogan had previously revealed, last November, his intention to visit the UAE next February, noting that Turkey would take similar steps with other countries, including Egypt and "Israel", similar to what it did with UAE.

In early December 2021, Al-Monitor published a report on the existence of a secret channel of talks between "Israel" and Turkey to improve relations between the two.

Also, three sources confirmed to Al-Monitor, "on condition that no names be mentioned," that "meetings have been held in recent weeks with Hakan Fidan, who represented Turkey in at least one of them, but they refused to disclose their location."

One of the sources said there is an ongoing connection between Turkey and "Israel", without further elaboration.

In this context, the head of the Islamic Jihad's media office, Daoud Shehab, said in an interview for Al Mayadeen in late November 2021 that President Erdogan's position is "a retreat from his words regarding Israel."

He added that there is clear pressure being exerted on Turkey to push it toward this declaration regarding "Israel", noting that "scrambling campaigns toward the Israeli enemy can never make us retreat or surrender."