Israeli President Invites Türkiye’s Erdogan to Visit, Receives Envoy 

Türkiye's ambassador to Israel Sakir Ozkan Torunlar (R), presents his credentials to Israeli President Isaac Herzog, in Jerusalem, on January 11, 2023. (AFP)
Türkiye's ambassador to Israel Sakir Ozkan Torunlar (R), presents his credentials to Israeli President Isaac Herzog, in Jerusalem, on January 11, 2023. (AFP)
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Israeli President Invites Türkiye’s Erdogan to Visit, Receives Envoy 

Türkiye's ambassador to Israel Sakir Ozkan Torunlar (R), presents his credentials to Israeli President Isaac Herzog, in Jerusalem, on January 11, 2023. (AFP)
Türkiye's ambassador to Israel Sakir Ozkan Torunlar (R), presents his credentials to Israeli President Isaac Herzog, in Jerusalem, on January 11, 2023. (AFP)

Israeli President Isaac Herzog on Wednesday invited his Turkish counterpart President Tayyip Erdogan to visit the country as he received Ankara's new ambassador in another token of the countries' recently warming ties. 

Last year, Herzog, whose role is largely ceremonial, was the first Israeli leader to visit Türkiye since 2008, after the two countries began restoring relations and ending a more than a decade-old diplomatic rift. 

They agreed to mutually appoint ambassadors in August and, after Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu won an election in November, he and Erdogan agreed to keep improving ties. 

"I am sure we will all work to strengthen the countries' relations," Herzog said. 

Netanyahu's return to power at the head of a nationalist-religious government in December has rattled Palestinians and Western and Arab allies who fear it could heighten tensions in the Middle East. 

Türkiye last week joined a chorus of condemnation of a visit by Israel's new far-right National Security Minister Itamar Ben-Gvir to the sensitive Al-Aqsa mosque complex in Jerusalem, Islam's third holiest site and Judaism's most sacred. 



Russia Says It Captures Kurakhove in Eastern Ukraine

Residents and bomb squad members stand in front of a house destroyed by yesterday's Russian missile strike, amid Russia's attack on Ukraine, in Chernihiv, Ukraine January 4, 2025. REUTERS/Maksym Kishka
Residents and bomb squad members stand in front of a house destroyed by yesterday's Russian missile strike, amid Russia's attack on Ukraine, in Chernihiv, Ukraine January 4, 2025. REUTERS/Maksym Kishka
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Russia Says It Captures Kurakhove in Eastern Ukraine

Residents and bomb squad members stand in front of a house destroyed by yesterday's Russian missile strike, amid Russia's attack on Ukraine, in Chernihiv, Ukraine January 4, 2025. REUTERS/Maksym Kishka
Residents and bomb squad members stand in front of a house destroyed by yesterday's Russian missile strike, amid Russia's attack on Ukraine, in Chernihiv, Ukraine January 4, 2025. REUTERS/Maksym Kishka

Russian forces have seized control of Kurakhove, a town in Ukraine's Donetsk region, the Russian Defense Ministry said on Monday.
Gaining control over Kurakhove "has significantly hampered the logistics and technical support" of Ukrainian troops, the ministry said.
Kurakhove lies 32 km (20 miles) south of Pokrovsk, an important Ukrainian logistics hub towards which Russia has been advancing for months.