Where are Turkey-Israel relations heading?

Israeli and Turkish leaders have been sending mixed signals as to which direction their relationship is heading. While Turkish Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan’s actions throughout the past month have suggested that the previously friendly relations between the two countries is faltering, news today shows that he is trying to make amends to restore relations.

Smadar Peri in Yedioth Ahronoth reports that Erdogan sent a message of reconciliation to Israel while on an official visit to Iran.

"Turkey intends to continue with its relations with Israel despite the rising tension in diplomatic relations between the two countries," said Erdogan, opting to choose his words with diplomatic precision.

Senior political sources in Ankara said last night that Erdogan could be expected to send Israel a positive message over the coming weekend in an attempt to restore relations to their "normal course." The sources said that Erdogan had pangs of regret about the crisis and that he was looking for a way to "climb down out of the tree without breaking the branch."

Along with Erdogan’s statement, the new Turkish Ambassador to Israel, Ahmet Celikkol, said that he would use his position to strengthen ties between Israel and Turkey during his first speech in office, given at Bar Ilan University.

Army Radio News reported that Celikkol said that “We have to put an emphasis on relations between universities and media outlets in Turkey and in Israel because they are of tremendous importance” and that “it could be that of late we've somewhat neglected relations. He said this would help Israelis and Turks to communicate better and to understand each other.”

Last week, Yedioth Ahronoth reported on a meeting between Celikkol and Irit Lillian, the director of the Europe 2 desk at the Ministry of Foreign Affairs.

The ambassador said relations between countries can have ups and downs. He said that Turkey and Israel are friends. “He tried to convey that even if it is not business as usual, they can at least go back to being usual,” Lillian said.

Cellikol said that relations between the two countries are very important and said that he hoped that the reception in honor of Turkey’s national day… would be successful.

These gestures aside, top Israeli officials have remained steadfast in their decision not to participate in Turkish Independence Day celebrations at the Turkish Embassy. Israeli President Shimon Peres as well as Foreign Minister Lieberman announced their decision not to attend the event today, though the Foreign Ministry said their decision should not be interpreted as a boycott. According to Israel Hayom, the only Cabinet minister who has confirmed his attendance is Industry and Trade Minister Binyamin Ben-Eliezer.