by Humeyra Pamuk
NEW YORK, Sept 20 (Reuters) – Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan and Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu met in person for the first time on Tuesday on the sidelines of the United Nations General Assembly in New York, marking a important step in improving relations between the two countries.
Ties between Israel and Turkey, once close regional allies, were strained when Ankara expelled Israel’s ambassador to Turkey following a 2010 Israeli raid on a ship carrying aid to the Gaza Strip. Ten Turkish nationals died in the attack.
Several high-level visits organized last year, including a trip by Israeli President Isaac Herzog to Ankara, however, helped improve relations.
Recep Tayyip Erdogan and Benjamin Netanyahu discussed subjects such as politics or the economy as well as the Israeli-Palestinian question, the Turkish presidency said in a message published on the social network X, formerly Twitter.
The Turkish president told the Israeli prime minister that their countries could cooperate in the areas of energy, technology, innovation, artificial intelligence and cybersecurity. (Report by Humeyra Pamuk; French version by Camille Raynaud)
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