Turkey and Israel will soon begin joint energy drilling in the Eastern Mediterranean, Turkish President Tayyip Erdogan said on Wednesday.
This announcement came after Turkey’s President Tayyip Erdogan and Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu met in person for the first time on Tuesday at the United Nations.
After the meeting, Erdogan said “ties between the two countries were improving” after more than a decade of tensions over policies toward the Palestinians.
Erdogan told reporters the two countries agreed to cooperate on energy and build an energy transmission line between them, linking to Europe.
“God willing, we will take this step without much delay and we will start energy drilling operations with Israel. We will also start operating energy transfer networks to Europe through Turkey, not just to Turkey,” Erdogan was cited as saying.
Erdogan added that he and Netanyahu had discussed a new mechanism that would deepen cooperation between the countries’ energy, industry, and tourism ministries.
In a separate statement, Netanyahu’s office said the two leaders committed to “continue advancing bilateral relations in trade, economic matters and energy,” and that reciprocal visits between the leaders would take place “soon.”
Source: Middle East Eye.
