Turkey will officially recall its ambassador from Tel Aviv unless Israel apologizes till evening , Turkish President Abdulla Gul was quoted as saying by the CNN Turk website.
The diplomatic scandal between the countries broke out on Tuesday because of Deputy Foreign Minister Daniel Ayalon's abusive actions towards Turkish Ambassador to Israel Ahmet Oguz Celikkol.
The Turkish ambassador was summoned to the Foreign Ministry in connection with the "Kurtlar Vadisi" movie, which is considered anti-Semitic in Israel, broadcasted on the Turkish television channels. During the meeting, Ayalon refused to shake hands with the Ambassador and also forced the Turkish diplomat to Israel to wait for admission for a long time.
Earlier, diplomatic sources in the Turkish Foreign Ministry said that Turkey will immediately close its embassy in Israel unless Israel apologizes by early hours of Jan.13, CNN Turk reported.
Today Turkey's Ambassador to Tel Aviv returned to Ankara. Celikkol said he had never encountered such a shameful fact during his 30-year diplomatic career.
The Israel-Turkey relations will be restored, "when Israel anew shifts to peaceful policy," Turkish Foreign Minister Ahmet Davutoglu said at a joint with news conference his British counterpart in London.
Meanwhile, Israeli Defense Minister Ehud Barak is expected to pay an official visit to Ankara to meet with his Turkish Counterpart on Sunday.