The Foreign Ministry announced Monday that it will be sending another diplomatic envoy to Ankara, who will act as the chargé d'affaires of the Israeli Embassy, despite the unrelenting tensions between Israel and Turkey. It was not too long ago, in September, when Turkish Foreign Minister Ahmet Davutoğlu announced that following Jerusalem's adamant refusal to apologize over the 2010 Gaza flotilla raid, Ankara will be downgrading its diplomatic relations with Israel and suspending key military agreements. In a dramatic turn of events, Turkey announced that it was expelling Israeli Ambassador Gabby Levy from Ankara. Davutoglu said Turkey's diplomatic representation in Israel would be further reduced to second-secretary level. In accordance, all lower Israeli diplomatic personnel above the second-secretary level have also been expelled. The announcement followed a press conference, in which Davutoglu said that some of the UN's Palmer Report findings on the raid were "unacceptable," adding that it was "time for Israel to pay the price... The highest price it can pay is losing our friendship."
