Foreign Minister Yair Lapid spoke on the phone today with his Turkish counterpart Mevlüt Çavuşoğlu, political commentator Barak Ravid reported on the Walla news site.
This is the first public telephone conversation between an Israeli foreign minister and a Turkish foreign minister in 13 years. The call comes amid attempts by Turkey in recent months to improve its relations with Israel.
The conversation was initiated by the Turkish Foreign Minister, whose office contacted the Israeli Foreign Ministry with a request for a private conversation between the two ministers. Minister Çavuşoğlu said that he wished to wish Lapid a speedy recovery following his diagnosis with the coronavirus last week.
The last time a public telephone conversation took place between an Israeli foreign minister and a Turkish foreign minister in 2008, when Tzipi Livni was Foreign Minister.
The phone call took place against the background of contacts and preparations for a possible visit by President Isaac Herzog to Ankara in the near future.
Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan has revealed that talks are underway to hold such a visit earlier this week.