The Reconciliation between Israel and Turkey – That´s one of the visions of the think tanks Mitvim – The Israeli Institute for Regional Foreign Policies and GPot – The Global Political Trends Center of Instanbul Kültür University. In order to advance the reconciliation process Mitvim, GPoT and Friedrich-Ebert-Stiftung organised the now 6th meeting between Turkish and Israeli experts and journalists. The recent Israeli-Palestinian escalation didn´t restrain the scientists of GPoT Prof. Mensur Akgün, Dr. Sylvia Tiryaki and Muhammed Ammash as well as the journalist Selin Nasi from travelling to Israel and participating in the conference. Dr. Nimrod Goren and Gabriel Mitchel from Mitvim and other Israeli journalists, opinion leaders and experts discussed recent regional developments in Mideast and the current state of Israel-Turkey negotiations with the Turkish delegation. In this regard the talks focused on issues such as the Russian presence in Syria, the IS, the Mideast conflict, the upcoming elections in Turkey in November 2015 and the refugee issue.
On the second day the delegation met Walid Salem, the directorof the Palestinian Center for Democracy and Community Development in Jerusalem, in order to also get an insight into Palestinian perspective on regional developments. Following a roundtable discussion with numerous Israeli officials took place at the Israeli Ministry of Foreign Affairs in order to discuss problems and opportunities concerning the state of relations between the Israeli and Turkish governments. The visit in Jerusalem was completed by a visit in the Knesset and a meeting of MK Ksenia Svetlova, who is not only a Member of Parliament but also a policy fellow at Mitvim. She is particularly advocating the peace process and tries to fight racism and discrimination.
