Israeli President Isaac Herzog will pay an official visit to Turkey in February, Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan announced.
“This visit could open a new chapter in relations between Turkey and Israel,” the Turkish leader said in an interview with NTV channel. He added that he was “ready to take steps in Israel’s direction in all areas, including natural gas.”
A spokesperson for Herzog declined to comment on Erdogan’s announcement.
“If a leader of an important Muslim country like Turkey reaches out to Israel, there is no option other than giving a positive answer,” a senior Israeli official said.
In November, Herzog and Erdogan spoke on the phone after Turkey released an Israeli couple from prison. Authorities had detained the couple, who are both bus drivers, for taking photos of Erdogan’s palace, claiming they were spies.
During the call with Herzog, Erdogan stressed that he views ties with Israel as important to his country and “of key importance to the peace, stability, and security of the Middle East.”
The two also spoke by phone following the death of Herzog’s mother this month.
In December, Erdogan told a delegation of visiting Jewish leaders that relations with Israel were “vital for the security and stability of the region” and spoke optimistically about the potential for improving ties.
The Turkish presidenyt told the members of the Alliance of Rabbis in Islamic States that he welcomed recent dialogue with Herzog and Israeli Prime Minister Naftali Bennett, while saying a sincere Israeli effort to advance peace with the Palestinians “will undoubtedly contribute to the normalization process” between Ankara and Jerusalem.
Once regional allies, relations between Israel and Turkey frayed throughout Erdogan’s tenure, during which the Turkish leader has been an outspoken critic of Israel’s policies toward the Palestinians.
Israel, for its part, is upset by Erdogan’s warm relations with Hamas, the terror group that controls the Gaza Strip.
The countries withdrew their ambassadors in 2010 after Israeli forces stormed a Gaza-bound flotilla that broke an Israeli blockade, resulting in the deaths of nine Turkish activists.