NNA - 

Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan signed a decree appointing Sakir Ozkan Torunlar as Turkish Ambassador to Israel after the restoration of diplomatic relations between the countries, according to a corresponding decree.

According to the presidential decree, Torunlar, a member of Turkey's Foreign Policy Advisory Board, was appointed Turkish Ambassador to the State of Israelin accordance with Articles 2 and 3 of Presidential Decree No. 3.

In late August, Turkish Foreign Minister Mevlut Cavusoglu said that Turkey had decided to appoint an ambassador to Israel and restore diplomatic relations between the two states. Torunlar previously served as ambassador to Palestine.

Relations between Tel Aviv and Istanbul deteriorated sharply in 2010 after the Israeli special forces captured the Mavi Marmara ship sailing out of Turkey to the Gaza Strip. In May 2018, Ankara invited the Israeli ambassador to Turkey to leave the country after protests in the Gaza Strip against the backdrop of the 70th anniversary of the formation of Israel and the anniversary of the transfer of the US Embassy from Tel Aviv to Jerusalem. Then, 59 Palestinians were killed in the clashes, and more than 2,700 were injured. --- SPUTNIK

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