ISTANBUL (Marmara)–Turkey officially rejected the new ambassador designate of Israel–stating that he had made pro-Armenian remarks in 1984–the Istanbul-based Marmara Armenian daily newspaper reported Tuesday.
Ankara officially rejected and demanded that Israel replace Yahud Toledano–saying that in an article published in 1984 the ambassador designate had accused Turkey of perpetrating the Armenian Genocide.
Turkish officials also stated that even if Ankara approved Toledano’s appointment–he would not be able to work in Turkey–given the "gravity of his statemen’s."
This rejection opens a new chapter in Turkish-Israeli relations. The Turkish foreign ministry expects that Israel would re-evaluate the ambassador issue–and has expressed hope that it would not hinder bilateral relations between the two countries.
The foreign ministry also announced that a recent postponement of a planned joint Turkish-US-Israeli military exercises was not related to this issue.