Turkey has decided to appoint an ambassador to Israel and restore diplomatic relations, Foreign Minister Mevlut Cavusoglu said.

"The decision has been made to appoint an ambassador to Israel, and there has also been a positive response from the Israeli side in this regard. Our candidacy will soon be presented to Mr. President," he said at a press conference.

He also expressed hope that the process will go well for both sides.

At the beginning of August Ankara condemned the IDF airstrikes in the Gaza Strip as part of Operation Dawn against the Islamic Jihad group.

Relations between Israel and Turkey deteriorated sharply in 2010 after the incident with the seizure by Israeli special forces of the ship Mavi Marmara, which had left Turkey for the Gaza Strip. In May 2018, Ankara invited the Israeli ambassador to Turkey to leave the country following protests in the Gaza Strip amid the 70th anniversary of Israel's formation and the relocation of the US embassy from Tel Aviv to Jerusalem. At the time, 59 Palestinians were killed in the clashes and more than 2.7 thousand were wounded.