Israeli, Turkish Leaders to Meet at United Nations

Israeli Prime Minister Yair Lapid. Reuters file photo
Israeli Prime Minister Yair Lapid. Reuters file photo
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Israeli, Turkish Leaders to Meet at United Nations

Israeli Prime Minister Yair Lapid. Reuters file photo
Israeli Prime Minister Yair Lapid. Reuters file photo

Israeli Prime Minister Yair Lapid is to meet Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan on the sidelines of the UN General Assembly in New York on Tuesday, as relations between the two countries thaw.

Lapid's office said he would travel to New York on Monday night, ahead of an address to the General Assembly on Thursday.

The office said that while in New York he would also meet the prime minister of Greece.

A source said the meeting with Erdogan would take place on Tuesday.

It came as Israel's armed forces chief Lieutenant General Aviv Kohavi announced his first visit to France and Poland to meet with senior officials in the two countries.

Last month, Türkiye and Israel announced the full restoration of diplomatic ties following years of strained relations.

In May, Mevlut Cavusoglu became the first Turkish foreign minister to visit Israel in 15 years.

Erdogan described a fence-mending visit to Ankara by Israeli President Isaac Herzog in March as "a turning point in our relations".

Relations began to fray in 2008, following an Israeli military operation in Gaza.

Relations then froze in 2010 after the deaths of 10 civilians following an Israeli commando raid on the Turkish ship Mavi Marmara, part of an aid flotilla trying to breach the Israeli blockade on Gaza.

A brief reconciliation lasted from 2016 until 2018, when Türkiye withdrew its ambassador and expelled Israel's over the killing of Palestinians. More than 200 Gazans were shot dead by Israeli forces during border protests in 2018 and 2019.



Gunfire Breaks up Congo Rebel Leader’s Rally in Bukavu, Residents Say 

A member of the M23 movement stands guard as people board a truck during an enrollment of civilians, police officers, and former members of the Armed Forces of the Democratic Republic of Congo (FARDC) who allegedly decided to join the M23 movement voluntarily in Goma on February 23, 2025. (AFP)
A member of the M23 movement stands guard as people board a truck during an enrollment of civilians, police officers, and former members of the Armed Forces of the Democratic Republic of Congo (FARDC) who allegedly decided to join the M23 movement voluntarily in Goma on February 23, 2025. (AFP)
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Gunfire Breaks up Congo Rebel Leader’s Rally in Bukavu, Residents Say 

A member of the M23 movement stands guard as people board a truck during an enrollment of civilians, police officers, and former members of the Armed Forces of the Democratic Republic of Congo (FARDC) who allegedly decided to join the M23 movement voluntarily in Goma on February 23, 2025. (AFP)
A member of the M23 movement stands guard as people board a truck during an enrollment of civilians, police officers, and former members of the Armed Forces of the Democratic Republic of Congo (FARDC) who allegedly decided to join the M23 movement voluntarily in Goma on February 23, 2025. (AFP)

Crowds fled as gunfire rang out at a rally held by the leader of the M23 rebel group, Corneille Nangaa, in Democratic Republic of Congo's eastern city of Bukavu on Thursday, residents said.

There was no immediate information on who was shooting, or whether there were any deaths or injuries at the event organized by the force that has battled Congo's army and seized swathes of territory in the east since the beginning of the year.

Congo, the United Nations and Western powers say neighboring Rwanda is backing the M23 group - accusations Rwanda denies. The rebel advance has stirred fears of a regional war that could draw in Congo's neighbors.

It was Nangaa's first public appearance in eastern Congo's second largest city since his forces seized control of it nearly two weeks ago.

M23 has been trying to demonstrate that it can restore order in the territory it has captured from Congo's army, and has re-opened ports and schools.

This M23 advance is the gravest escalation in more than a decade of the long-running conflict in eastern Congo, rooted in the spillover of Rwanda's 1994 genocide into Congo and the struggle for control of Congo's vast minerals resources.

Rwanda has said it is defending itself against the threat from a Hutu militia, which it says is fighting with the Congolese military.