Kemal Okem, chief adviser on foreign policy to the prime minister, will be Turkey’s new ambassador to Israel
Recep Tayyip Erdogan announced the appointment of a former foreign policy adviser as Turkey’s new ambassador to Israel on Wednesday.
Kemal Okem will assume his duties in Tel Aviv with immediate effect, Erdogan said.
“We are appointing Mr. Kemal Okem as ambassador,” Erdogan told reporters at Ankara’s Esenboga Airport before leaving for Pakistan. “They have also appointed their envoy. I believe they start their duty today.”
On Tuesday, Israel appointed its first ambassador to Turkey in six years. Eitan Na’eh, deputy ambassador to the U.K. since 2013, will be the new envoy to Ankara, the Israeli Foreign Ministry announced.
Na’eh previously worked in the Ankara embassy in 1993 and also served as Israel’s ambassador to Azerbaijan.
Turkey and Israel renewed ties in June following a six-year split over the attack on the Mavi Marmara aid ship in May 2010, when Israeli commandos killed at least 10 Turkish activists on the Gaza-bound vessel.
