Israel’s President Isaac Herzog plans to meet the presidents of Greece and Cyprus in the coming weeks and then travel to Turkey for talks with President Recep Tayyip Erdogan.
The trips are meant to assure Athens and Nicosia that a rapprochement with Ankara will not come at the expense of the close ties Israel has developed with them in recent years.
Herzog’s one-day trip to Athens is set for next Thursday, and a half-day trip to Cyprus is expected to take place the following week.
Herzog’s meeting with Erdogan will be the week after that, Turkish media reported. However, the President’s Residence said the date has not been finalized.
Herzog’s visit will be the first by an Israeli leader in more than a decade, following a period of tensions between Israel and Turkey. The presidents have spoken on the phone multiple times since Herzog took office last year.
Turkish Deputy Foreign Minister Sedat Önal and Ibrahim Kalin, Erdogan’s senior adviser and spokesman, led a delegation from Ankara to Israel this week.
Read more: jpost
