2 yıl önce

Turkiye: Normalisation of ties with Israel won't be at expense of Palestine

The normalisation of relations between Ankara and Tel Aviv might increase Turkiye's role in the two-state solution in the Palestine-Israel conflict, the country's Foreign Minister Mevlut Cavusoglu says.

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Turkish FM Cavusoglu says the country will never turn back its our core principles.

Turkiye has said that any step towards the normalisation of ties with Israel would not be at the expense of the Palestinian cause.

"Any step we take with Israel regarding our relations, any normalisation, will not be at the expense of the Palestinian cause, like some other countries," Turkish Foreign Minister Mevlut Cavusoglu said on Wednesday.

“Our position on the Palestinian issue is always clear. We are the country that has expressed its stance on this issue most clearly from the very beginning. You've already seen what happened in the last 4-5 years,” he added.

Noting that the normalisation of relations between Ankara and Tel Aviv might increase Turkiye's role in the two-state solution, Cavusoglu said: "But we will not give up on our basic principles and our position, including the two-state solution."

“If relations are to be normalised, they will be normalised with the steps of both parties, or if a certain dialogue channel is to be opened, it will happen if both parties desire it and take steps accordingly.”

Efforts to mend ties

Referring to the planned visit of Israeli President Isaac Herzog to Turkiye in March, Cavusoglu said that officials from both sides are working out details of the visit.

The two countries expelled their ambassadors in 2018.

Ties have remained tense since with Ankara condemning Israel's occupation of the West Bank and its policy toward Palestinians, while Israel has called on Turkiye to drop support for the Palestinian group Hamas, which rules Gaza.

However, Turkiye has been working to repair its strained ties with regional powers from 2020.