Turkey, Israel to Appoint Ambassadors in Coming Days

Despite a harsh exchange of words with Ankara over Israel’s air strikes on Gaza Sunday night, the Israel-Turkey reconciliation seemed unaffected, with news on Tuesday that the two countries will be appointing ambassadors in the next few days.

The Turkish Foreign Minister Mevlüt Çavuşoğlu made the announcement late Tuesday afternoon, though he did not name the new ambassadors.

On Monday, both sides declared their intention to openly disagree on such issues as Israel’s response to Palestinian terrorism, and that restoration of diplomatic relations did not mean diplomatic harmony.

“The normalization of relations with Israel does not mean that we have to remain silent about attacks against the Palestinian people in Gaza,” a Turkish statement read. “On the contrary, we will continue to defend the Palestinian issue in the face of Israeli actions which violate international law and are contrary to basic human morality.”

Israel was equally adament. “The normalization of our relations with Turkey does not mean that we will remain silent in the face of its baseless condemnations,” said a statement from the foreign ministry. “Israel will continue to defend its civilians from all rocket fire on our territory, in accordance with international law and our conscience. Turkey should think twice before criticizing the military actions of others.”