Turkey appoints new ambassador to Israel as ties warm

ANKARA, Turkey (AP) — Turkey’s state-run news agency says Ankara has appointed a new ambassador to Israel in the latest step between the two countries’ efforts toward normalizing ties. Turkey on Thursday named Sakir Ozkan Torunlar, a senior diplomat who had served as Turkey’s consul general in Jerusalem between 2010 and 2013, as the ambassador, Anadolu Agency reported. He takes the position four years after Turkey withdrew its ambassador from Israel and ousted Israel’s ambassador in protest of the killing of dozens of Palestinians by Israeli gunfire during protests along the frontier with Gaza. In a step toward rapprochement, Israeli President Isaac Herzog visited Turkey in March to meet with President Recep Tayyip Erdogan. Last month, Israel named Irit Lillian as its ambassador to Turkey.