Turkish minister to pay official visit to Israel for first time in 7 years

Baku. 31 January. REPORT.AZ/ A Turkish minister will pay an official visit to Israel next week for the first time in over seven years since relations between Ankara and Tel Aviv deteriorated following the 2010 Mavi Marmara attack.

Report informs citing the Aljazeera, Culture and Tourism Minister Nabi Avcı will visit Israel on Feb. 7-8 to step updialoguebetween the two countries in the wake of last year’s fence-mending, the source said, speaking on condition of anonymity due to restrictions on speaking to the media.

During his visit, Avcı will meet his IsraelicounterpartYariv Levin.

He is also scheduled to visit the Mediterranean Tourism Fair in Tel Aviv and meet Turkish and Israeli tourism professionals, the source said.

As part of his official tour, Avcı is expected to attend the opening ceremony of a photo exhibit on Turkish-Israeli relations organized by Anadolu Agency and the Tel Aviv Cultural Center.

Notably, the agreement on normalization of relations with Turkey and Israel was signed in June. Under the agreement, Israel was forced to pay 20 million USD to Turkey due to the "Mavi Marmara" incident between the two countries that took place in 2010, which led to a deterioration in relations between the two countries.

Notably, embassies and ambassadors of both states are operating in two countries.