Israeli foreign minister to visit Turkey amid security jitters

JERUSALEM (Reuters) – Israeli Foreign Minister Yair Lapid plans to visit Turkey this week, his office said on Sunday, after months of warming ties but also recent worries voiced by Israel that its citizens could come under attack by Iranian agents in the NATO-member country.

The statement said that Lapid, during his trip on Thursday, would meet with Turkish counterpart Mevlut Cavusoglu, who last month visited Israel to encourage expanded economic cooperation.

Israel has warned its citizens against travel to Turkey, citing suspected assassination or abduction plots by Iran, which has vowed to avenge the May 22 assassination of a Revolutionary Guards colonel in Tehran that it blamed on Israeli agents.

Iran has not commented on the Israeli travel warning, which is currently focussed on Istanbul. In a June 13 statement that did not name any other countries, Turkey’s Foreign Ministry alluded to the warning and said it was a safe country with “cooperation mechanisms for the battle with terrorism”.

(This story refiles to fix typo in headline)

(Writing by Dan Williams and Tuvan Gumrukcu)