Blockade of the Gaza Strip

The trilateral Noble Dina exercise between the American, Israeli and Hellenic navies will begin later this month, with nearly a dozen surface ships, submarines and related air assets scheduled to engage in joint reconnaissance, counterterror and antisubmarine warfare training.

Turkey's new ambassador to Israel, Kemal Ökem, submitted his credentials to Israeli President Reuven Rivlin on Dec. 12, marking the inauguration of a Turkish envoy to the country for the first time in six years.
 

The Turkish-Israeli normalization process is continuing, albeit at a slow pace.
On Tuesday, the Israeli Foreign Ministry nominated the deputy ambassador to Britain, Eitan Na'eh, as its new envoy to Turkey. 

Ambassador Mekin Mustafa Kemal Ökem has been named Turkey's new ambassador to Israel, President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan said Nov. 16.

"He took up the position yesterday," Erdoğan told reporters before he departed for Pakistan. 

Turkey and Israel will conclude the process of mutual appointment of ambassadors within a week or ten days at most, announced the spokesperson of Turkish President Erdogan, reported Reuters.

The exchange of ambassadors is a key step in the process of normalising bi-lateral relations. Earlier, the two countries agreed on deepening their co-operation in the energy sector.

Israel and Turkey have discussed the possibility of building a natural gas pipeline between the two countries, Israel's energy minister said on Oct. 13, in the first Israeli ministerial visit to Turkey since relations came to a halt in 2010. 

Turkey and Israel are working to mutually appoint ambassadors "within a short period of time," the Turkish Foreign Ministry stated on Oct. 11.

As part of the normalization process with Israel, work to mutually appoint ambassadors is expected to be completed soon, Foreign Ministry spokesperson Tanju Bilgiç said when asked about the matter. 

A senior Israeli government minister is due to visit Turkey this week in the first such trip since the the two countries normalized relations after a six-year crisis over Israel's deadly storming of a Gaza-bound ship, an official said.

Israel on Oct. 5 intercepted a boat carrying women activists seeking to break the country's decade-long blockade of the Gaza Strip, saying it was boarded without incident and taken ashore.

The Israeli government on Sept. 30 paid $20 million in compensation to Turkey over the Mavi Marmara flotilla raid in 2010, which led to the suspension of diplomatic ties between the two countries before a reconciliation deal was reached earlier this year, private broadcaster CNN Türk has reported.