Israeli President Isaac Herzog arrives in Turkey for state visit

Israeli President Isaac Herzog and First Lady Michal Herzog landed in Ankara, Turkey on Wednesday for a two-day official visit at the invitation of Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan.

Herzog became the first Israeli leader to visit Turkey since 2008 and the first Israeli president since 2003.

They were greeted on arrival by a government official and an honor guard, before a visit to the Anıtkabir mausoleum where the president laid a wreath at the grave of Mustafa Kemal Atatürk, Turkey's founding father. 

Accompanied by his wife, he visited the museum dedicated to the first Turkish head of state, inaugurated in 1953 as the final resting place of the first president of the Republic of Turkey. 

"Israeli-Turkish relations are important to Israel, important to Turkey and important to the whole region. And for the first time in many years there will be [an Israeli] visit to Turkey," Herzog said on the tarmac at Ben Gurion Airport before taking off.

“Certainly, at a time when the international order is shaken, it is good and appropriate that stability and partnership be maintained in our region, and I have underlined this point during my visits to Greece and Cyprus in recent weeks and in my conversations with leaders," he added.

The president and his wife are scheduled to travel from the capital to Istanbul where they will meet members of the local Jewish community.

The warming ties between Ankara and Jerusalem are occurring after years of diplomatic coldness and at times open hostility. 

The rapprochement in recent months began with a congratulatory call by Erdogan to Herzog upon his election to president. The two men have spoken several times since.