Turkey and Israel must do everything to preserve bilateral relations, Israeli Defense Minister Ehud Barak said on Sunday. He was in the center of the diplomatic spat between Turkey and Israel last week.
The scandal broke out on Tuesday because of Israeli Deputy Foreign Minister Daniel Ayalon's abusive language towards Turkish diplomat Oguz Celikkol.
Celikkol was summoned to explain why the film "Valley of the Wolves," containing anti-Israeli moments, was broadcasted on Turkish TV channels.
Ayalon has already apologized for his action, and promised to be more careful when speaking to foreign diplomats.
"Turkey is an important country in the Middle East. As is the case around the world, Turkey also finds itself in a power struggle between the moderates and the extremists. We hope that Turkey remains a moderate state," Ayalon said.
Speaking about Israel-Turkey relations, the deputy minister stressed that the two countries have common interests.
He underscored the importance of preserving the good relations between the two countries. Turkey also voiced similar opinions.
During a joint press conference of Turkish and Israeli defense ministers in Ankara, Turkish Defense Minister Vecdi Genul said that despite the lack of common land borders, Turkey considers Israel its neighbor.
"We will cooperate while solving our common problems. We are strategic partners and we wish to cooperate in all spheres," TRT Russian Web site quoted Genul as saying.
Relations between the two countries deteriorated after Turkey refused to participate in the NATO military exercises in October because of the participation of the Israeli air force in the exercises. Then, Turkish Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan said that such a decision is the will of the Turkish people.
In January 2009, Erdogan defiantly left the World Economic Forum after a controversy with Israeli President Shimon Peres.
The scandal occurred in Davos, after Peres gave an emotional 25-minute speech at a workshop on the situation in the Gaza Strip.
The Turkish prime minister also responded emotionally to the Israeli leader, accusing Israel of mass civilian deaths.
"You know very well how to kill people," Erdogan said angrily.
