Tel Aviv: Israel Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan on Tuesday discussed efforts to reach a normalization agreement between Israel and Saudi Arabia among other regional and international issues, The Jerusalem Post reported.
The Jerusalem Post is a broadsheet newspaper based in Jerusalem.
Netanyahu and Erdogan met on the sidelines of the UN General Assembly in New York.
This comes as the second such meeting between Erdogan and an Israeli prime minister since 2008. Last year, he met with former Prime Minister Yair Lapid.
Netanyahu told Erdogan at the start of their meeting: “Our ties are growing stronger”.
Netanyahu thanked Erdogan for the cooperation between the two countries’ security services, including the thwarting of attempts by Iran to attack Israelis in Istanbul. The two leaders agreed to arrange official visits to Israel and Turkey soon.
Meanwhile, Erdogan is interested in arranging a trip to Israel as soon as possible to pray at Jerusalem’s Al-Aqsa Mosque, Channel 12 news reported, without citing a source. The prayer would mark the 100-year anniversary of the Turkish Republic, founded on October 29, 1923.
According to the Turkish readout of Tuesday’s meeting, the leaders discussed developments in Israeli-Palestinian relations. It also said that Erdogan urged cooperation in energy, technology, innovation, artificial intelligence and cybersecurity.
Turkey’s foreign minister, energy minister, and intelligence chief were also present for the meeting.
The Turkish President tweeted pictures of the sit-down, expressing hope that “our consultations will be beneficial for our country and the region.”
Signs of improved ties were also evident in Erdogan’s address to the United Nations General Assembly on Tuesday, as per The Times of Israel.
Erdogan, in contrast to previous years, refrained from condemning Israel and offered only a few words of support for the Palestinians, mentioning them almost as an aside in his speech.
“In order for peace to ring in the Middle East, the Palestinian-Israeli conflict should be brought to an eventual solution,” he said. “We will continue to support the Palestinian people and their struggle for legitimate rights under international law,” he said.
“Without a Palestinian state based on the 1967 borders “it is difficult for Israel to find the peace and security it seeks in that part of the world,” he said.
“We will continue to pursue respect for the historic status of Jerusalem,” he added.
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