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  Turkey’s ties with Israel and Russia gain speed

Turkey’s ties with Israel and Russia gain speed

AFP
Published : Jun 29, 2016, 12:46 am IST
Updated : Jun 29, 2016, 12:46 am IST

Turkey and Israel will this week start the process of exchanging ambassadors after they signed a deal to restore ties following a bitter row in 2010, Ankara said on Tuesday.

Turkey and Israel will this week start the process of exchanging ambassadors after they signed a deal to restore ties following a bitter row in 2010, Ankara said on Tuesday.

Presidential spokesman Ibrahim Kalin also said Turkey and Russia’s foreign ministers would meet after months of acrimony, as Ankara launches major efforts to repair damaged friendships in the region.

“New steps will definitely be taken to restore ties with Israel in the areas of the economy, trade and energy,” Mr Kalin told reporters in the capital.

He added that Ankara wants to “open a new chapter in Turkish-Russian relations” which were severed when Turkey shot down one of Moscow’s warplanes on its border with Syria last November.

Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan and his Russian counterpart Vladimir Putin are due to speak by phone on Wednesday for the first time since the incident prompted an unprecedented crisis in Moscow-Ankara ties.

“We expect relations to be normalised in areas of politics, trade and energy,”

Mr Kalin said, indicating that the pair would likely discuss the lifting of punishing sanctions Russia has slapped on Turkey.

Mr Erdogan had on Monday reached out a conciliatory hand to fellow strongman Putin.

The Kremlin said Mr Erdogan apologised over the plane incident, but Mr Kalin denied this, saying the Turkish leader’s letter had “expressed deep regrets” rather than offering an outright apology.

Mr Kalin added that there were no plans to offer compensation, but suggested Ankara may make a “gesture” to the family of the plane’s slain pilot to “ease their sorrow”.

Location: Turkey, Ankara