At a meeting with Foreign Ministry Undersecretary Feridun Sinirlioglu, Israeli envoy Gabby Levy was asked about recent statement issued by Israeli Foreign Ministry that strongly criticized Turkish Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdoğan after his remarks over Israeli offensive against Gaza.
Turkish diplomats also expressed uneasiness over media reports after Turkish Ambassador in Tel Aviv Oğuz Çelikkol's meeting with Israeli Deputy Foreign Minister Danny Ayalon and also the statement made by Israeli Foreign Ministry Spokesperson Yossi Levy.
On Monday, Israeli Foreign Ministry expressed uneasiness over a popular Turkish TV series, "Kurtlar Vadisi" (The Valley of The Wolves), through diplomatic channels. Turkish Ambassador Çelikkol was summoned to Israeli Foreign Ministry. Israeli diplomats said the TV drama had contained anti-Israel messages.
At a meeting with Lebanese Prime Minister Saad Hariri the same day in Ankara, Turkish Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdoğan criticized Israel for its offensive against Gaza and for violating UN resolutions. He said Israel never denied that it possessed nuclear weapons, calling on the five permanent members of the UN security Council to be fair, and follow up on nuclear weapons of Israel, just like they did with Iran.
In response to Erdoğan's remarks, Israeli Foreign Ministry said in a statement that Israel respected Turkey and was interested in continued normal relations between the two states, but expected the Turkish side to reciprocate with a similar approach towards Israel.
