Israeli foreign minister to visit Türkiye on Thursday

By Handan Kazanci

ISTANBUL (AA) - Israeli Foreign Minister Yair Lapid will pay a visit to Türkiye on Thursday, the Turkish Foreign Ministry announced on Sunday.

Bilateral relations and regional issues will be discussed during the visit, the ministry said in a statement.

Earlier on Sunday in a phone call, Israeli President Isaac Herzog thanked his Turkish counterpart Recep Tayyip Erdogan for Ankara’s efforts in combatting terrorism.

During the call, the two leaders “agreed on maintaining cooperation for peace and stability as well as dialogue in the two countries’ relations and regional matters, including security and the fight against terror,” according to a statement by Türkiye's Communications Directorate.

Last month, during a visit to Israel, Turkish Foreign Minister Mevlut Cavusoglu said Türkiye and Israel demonstrated a "common will" to improve relations in every field.

"Even though there were difficult days, we decided to continue our relations," Cavusoglu said.

Cavusoglu’s visit was the first trip to Israel by a Turkish foreign minister in nearly 15 years.

Earlier, in March, Herzog had visited Ankara and met with Erdogan.