Jerusalem, 11 January, 2023 (TPS) — In a further thawing of relations, Turkey’s new ambassador to Israel presented his credentials to Israeli President Isaac Herzog on Wednesday. The two countries have not had ambassadors to each other since 2018.

Israel and Turkey expelled each other’s ambassadors in 2018 amid Palestinian riots along the Gaza border when the US recognized Jerusalem as Israel’s capital. Erdogan called Israel a “terrorist state” and accused it of “genocide.”

“It is no secret that the State of Israel attaches great importance to our historic relationship with Turkey, as do I personally,” Herzog told Ambassador Sakir Ozkan Torunlar. “It is a relationship that has known crises in the past but is now, to our delight, on a very encouraging trajectory. Israel and Türkiye can and must cooperate in many fields that will bring progress and growth for both countries and both nations,”

Herzog, who paid a state visit to Turkey in March 2022, invited Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan to visit Israel.

Key bilateral issues include collaboration on delivering natural gas to Europe, Erdogan allowing members of the Hamas terror group to live in Turkey and Jerusalem’s reluctance to recognize the mass killings of an estimated 1.5 million Armenians by the Ottoman Turks during World War I as genocide.

Both countries are also trying to navigate difficult relations with Russia.

Israeli-Turkish diplomacy is further complicated by Israel’s relations with Turkey’s Mediterranean rivals, Greece and Cyprus.