Turkey appoints new envoy to Israel after two years

ANKARA: After a hiatus of two years, Turkey has appointed its new envoy, Ufuk Ulutas to Israel. The move is seen as an attempt to improve ties with incoming President-elect Joe Biden’s administration, a news report by Al-Monitor cited “well-placed sources”.

Earlier in May 2018, Ankara recalled its ambassador over violent attacks against Palestinians in the besieged Gaza Strip which claimed the lives of dozens of Palestinian protesters by Israeli forces amid the opening of the US embassy in Jerusalem.

Read more: Morocco agrees to recognise Israel under US-brokered deal Newly-appointed ambassador, Ulutas, 40, is chairman for the Centre for Strategic Research at the Turkish Foreign Ministry. He is a political appointee who studied Hebrew and Middle Eastern politics at the Hebrew University in Jerusalem, read the publication.

The Turkish official is also an expert on Israel’s regional rival, Iran, but is not a career diplomat. “Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan has fashioned himself as a standard-bearer of Palestinian rights in the Muslim world, and once-booming relations between Turkey and Israel have steadily deteriorated since his Justice and Development Party (AKP) rose to power in 2002,” the report highlighted.