国际英语新闻:Spotlight: Turkey appoints ambassador to Israel in bid to fix ties amid years of tension

ANKARA, Dec. 25 (Xinhua) -- Turkey's decision to appoint a new ambassador to Israel is in line with its ambition of normalizing relations with the Jewish state and represents a bid that would generate geostrategic benefits for both nations, Turkish experts said.

On Dec. 9, along with a series of other ambassador appointments, Ankara announced that Ufuk Ulutas, chairman of the Center for Strategic Research at the Turkish Foreign Ministry, had been selected for the critical post.

Ulutas, a 40-year-old think-tanker, is an expert on Israel and Iran and has written many papers on the Middle East policy.

This appointment came after Turkey had reportedly initiated a series of secret contacts with Israel in an attempt to mend fences amid years of tension in bilateral relations.

It is worth noting that there has been no ambassador in either country since May 2018, when Turkey asked the Israeli envoy to leave after Washington's decision to move the U.S. embassy to the disputed holy city of Jerusalem.

It is unclear if Israel will also appoint an ambassador to reciprocate Turkey's overtures since no announcement has been made to this date.

"It's an important first move to fix ties with Israel. Both nations are regional players and restoring a once well-working relationship would be a win-win outcome for them," Hasim Turker, academic coordinator of the Bosphorus Center for Asian Studies based in Ankara, told Xinhua.

A reset of bilateral ties with Israel may reduce tensions in Eastern Mediterranean where Turkey has maritime disputes with other nations, Turker explained.

Turkey's more assertive foreign policy in recent years has marked a deterioration of its ties with countries including Israel, Egypt, Saudi Arabia, Greece and some Gulf states.

"Realpolitik is pushing Turkey and Israel to move closer," said Turker. "Turkey has not the luxury of being politically and economically alone in this region, so it has to take decisions to end this state of affairs by reaching out to nations with whom it has problems."

With the upcoming Joe Biden administration in Washington, Turkey may have evaluated that it could see itself further ostracized if it does not mend ties with Israel, a strong ally of the United States, the foreign policy analyst added.

For the part of Israel, however, it is busy cultivating its newly-found ties with Muslim states and may not rush to respond to this rapprochement move by Turkey, said a former Turkish ambassador who asked not to be named.

"Israel may prefer to enhance its ties with Arab nations first and then turn toward Turkey in line with shared regional interests," he told Xinhua, noting a possible normalization of ties would help reduce hostilities in the Mediterranean region.

The current Turkish government under President Recep Tayyip Erdogan has been a strong advocate of the Palestinian cause, constituting an eyesore in the Middle East for the Israeli leadership and causing mutual distrust, observers believe.

"We are having issues with people at the (Israeli) top level," Erdogan told reporters in Istanbul after Friday prayers.

"If there were no issues at the top level, our ties could have been very different," he said, adding Israel's policies on Palestine were "unacceptable."

Turkey and Israel once maintained close relations defined by security cooperation. Relations began to deteriorate after Israel raided a Turkish-owned aid flotilla bound for Gaza in 2010, killing 10 pro-Palestinian activists on board.

However, trade and tourism have since persisted despite poor relations, and Turkey remains Israel's sixth largest trading partner.

As Turkey looks eager to rehabilitate ties with Israel, full diplomatic relations could be re-established as early as March, Turkish presidential adviser Mesut Casin said in an interview with the American press this week.

"If Israel takes a step, Turkey may take two steps, and Ankara may re-open its Tel Aviv embassy by March," he noted.