Israel’s Lapid to Visit Turkey Following Secret Visit by Ushpiz

Israeli Foreign Minister Yair Lapid (AP)
Israeli Foreign Minister Yair Lapid (AP)
TT

Israel’s Lapid to Visit Turkey Following Secret Visit by Ushpiz

Israeli Foreign Minister Yair Lapid (AP)
Israeli Foreign Minister Yair Lapid (AP)

Israeli Foreign Minister Yair Lapid will visit Turkey in mid-March to participate in a forum and meet with several senior officials, said a source in Tel Aviv on Friday.

The source affirmed that Lapid was officially invited to participate in the Antalya Diplomacy Forum, which is scheduled to be held between March 11-13.

He will meet there with government representatives and his Turkish counterpart Mevlut Cavusoglu.

According to the source, Israeli President Isaac Herzog is expected to arrive in Ankara a few days later.

Director-General of the Israeli Foreign Ministry Alon Ushpiz secretly visited Turkey last month, the source added.

He met with Ibrahim Kalin, chief adviser and spokesperson to the Turkish president.

According to the Ynetnews website, the meeting followed a series of important talks held between Kalin and the Chargé d’Affairs of the Israeli Embassy in Ankara, Irit Lillian.

Lillian stated that Kalin played a major role in the release of the Israeli couple, Mordy and Natalie Oknin, last year.

Since then, the relationship with him has been enhanced through the embassy in Ankara.

Ushpiz's visit to Ankara is the first in six years at the political level by an Israeli official.

The Director-General of Foreign Affairs, Yuval Rotem, visited Turkey in 2016 after the suicide bombing in Istanbul that killed three Israeli tourists.

Ynet said that the Israeli Foreign Ministry refused to comment on this news. However, well-informed sources confirmed that Ushpiz's visit was in preparation for Lapid and Herzog’s upcoming visits.

A Turkish official is expected to visit Israel soon as part of the preparations for the major visit Herzog will make to Ankara, revealed Turkey’s Hurriyet daily newspaper.



China Discovers Cluster of New Mpox Strain

A woman walks on the Youyi Bridge at the Liangmahe river in Beijing, China on Thursday, Jan. 9, 2025. (AP Photo/Aaron Favila)
A woman walks on the Youyi Bridge at the Liangmahe river in Beijing, China on Thursday, Jan. 9, 2025. (AP Photo/Aaron Favila)
TT

China Discovers Cluster of New Mpox Strain

A woman walks on the Youyi Bridge at the Liangmahe river in Beijing, China on Thursday, Jan. 9, 2025. (AP Photo/Aaron Favila)
A woman walks on the Youyi Bridge at the Liangmahe river in Beijing, China on Thursday, Jan. 9, 2025. (AP Photo/Aaron Favila)

Chinese health authorities said on Thursday they had detected the new mutated mpox strain clade Ib as the viral infection spreads to more countries after the World Health Organization declared a global public health emergency last year.
China's Center for Disease Control and Prevention said it had found a cluster outbreak of the Ib subclade that started with the infection a foreigner who has a history of travel and residence in the Democratic Republic of the Congo, Reuters reported.
Four further cases have been found in people infected after close contact with the foreigner. The patients' symptoms are mild and include skin rash and blisters.
Mpox spreads through close contact and causes flu-like symptoms and pus-filled lesions on the body. Although usually mild, it can be fatal in rare cases.
WHO last August declared mpox a global public health emergency for the second time in two years, following an outbreak in the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC) that spread to neighboring countries.
The outbreak in DRC began with the spread of an endemic strain, known as clade I. But the clade Ib variant appears to spread more easily through routine close contact, including sexual contact.
The variant has spread from DRC to neighboring countries, including Burundi, Kenya, Rwanda and Uganda, triggering the emergency declaration from the WHO.
China said in August last year it would monitor people and goods entering the country for mpox.
The country's National Health Commission said mpox would be managed as a Category B infectious disease, enabling officials to take emergency measures such as restricting gatherings, suspending work and school, and sealing off areas when there is an outbreak of a disease.