Israeli President Isaac Herzog called his Turkish counterpart Recep Tayyip Erdoğan on Thursday to extend greetings ahead of this weekend's Muslim festival of Qurban Bayram (Eid al-Adha).
The two leaders also exchanged views on bilateral and regional issues, according to a statement by the Turkish Communications Directorate.
The Turkish president also said he hopes the Muslim holiday brings peace and serenity to both countries, the region and the world as a whole.
Both leaders also expressed determination to focus on a positive agenda and further enhance bilateral relations.
Ankara and Tel Aviv have recently ramped up efforts to mend ties fractured since 2010, when Israeli forces stormed a Gaza-bound flotilla carrying humanitarian aid for Palestinians. Nine Turkish activists were killed in the incident.
Herzog met Erdoğan in Turkey in March, while the foreign ministers of the two countries have also made reciprocal visits this year and started efforts to upgrade their diplomatic representation.
Turkey and Israel have launched the process to raise mutual diplomatic relations to the ambassadors level, Foreign Minister Mevlüt Çavuşoğlu said last month while Israeli Foreign Minister Yair Lapid paid a visit to the capital Ankara as the two countries enter a new phase in bilateral relations after a decade of animosity.
Both countries will continue mutual visits and political negotiations at various levels, Çavuşoğlu said at the joint press conference.
Within the scope of Turkey's normalization policy with the countries of the Gulf and the Middle East, Lapid arrived in the capital Ankara just days after urging Israelis to leave Turkey over threats of attacks by Iranian operatives.
This was the first foreign minister-level visit from Israel to Turkey in 16 years. Former Israeli Foreign Minister Tzipi Livni visited Ankara in May 2006. The trip followed Çavuşoğlu's visit to Israel in May, which marked the first visit at the foreign minister level in 15 years.
The mutual appointment of ambassadors and energy cooperation were the main agenda items in the contacts held within the framework of Lapid's visit. The political situation in Israel, bilateral relations and regional issues were also discussed.
During his visit to Israel, Çavuşoğlu said Turkey and Israel demonstrated a “common will” to improve relations in every field. “Even though there were difficult days, we decided to continue our relations,” Çavuşoğlu said.
In November 2021, Erdoğan held telephone talks with Herzog and Israeli Prime Minister Naftali Bennett, the first such discussions between the Turkish leader and an Israeli leader since 2013. Erdoğan declared that Turkey was considering “gradual” reconciliation with Israel.
In January 2022, he announced that Turkey was ready to cooperate with Israel on a gas pipeline project in the Eastern Mediterranean. Following the 2010 crisis, Israel created a strategic alliance with Greece and the Greek Cypriot administration, two actors with long-standing acrimony toward Turkey, and in recent years held regular trilateral meetings and conducted joint military drills. The trio was part of the East Mediterranean Gas Forum established in 2019 with other states, including Egypt and Jordan, without Turkey. In 2020, Israel, Greece and the Greek Cypriot administration signed the EastMed deal for a pipeline to ship gas from the Eastern Mediterranean to Europe, triggering objections from Ankara. The United States has since also raised concern about the project, citing possible issues over its “commercial viability.”
Turkey has recently been working to improve relations with several countries in the region as part of a normalization process launched in 2020.
The Alliance of Rabbis in the Islamic States also issued a message for the Qurban Bayram.
"We wish our fellow citizens and neighbors celebrating the Eid al-Adha, that their prayers and acts of sharing be accepted and make the world a better place for us all," the group said.
Eid al-Adha marks the willingness of Prophet İbrahim, or Abraham, to sacrifice his son on God's command, before the last-minute divine substitute of a ram.
During the holiday, financially-able Muslims slaughter animals such as cows, sheep and goats, with the meat distributed among the poor and shared with friends and relatives.
