Turkish Embassy moving out of Hayarkon Street building

At a time when relations between the two countries are at an unprecedented low, the Turkish embassy in Israel is moving home, from the well-known building identified with it at 202 Hayarkon Street in Tel Aviv, to Mapu Street in the city, “”Globes” has learned. The existing embassy building will be replaced by a hotel, at the end of a process that has lasted more than two decades.

Turkey was the first Muslim country to recognize the State of Israel, and sent an envoy here in 1950. Its 800 square-meter embassy building is situated opposite the Hilton Hotel. At first, it was leased from a privately-held Israeli company, but in 2009 the building was bought by an overseas resident for NIS 27 million. Even at the time of the sale, the Urban Building Plan allowed buildings in the street to be used for residential purposes or as hotels, and a hotel was always the likely outcome.

In 2012, the Tel Aviv District Planning and Building Committee approved for deposit a plan for turning the Turkish Embassy building into a hotel.

Focus of tension

The existing Turkish Embassy building became a source of tension between Israel and Turkey during the Swords of Iron war. Following the killing of Ismail Haniyeh, chairman of the Hamas Political Bureau, in Teheran on July 31 last year, Turkish president Recep Tayyip Erdogan declared a day of mourning. Two days later, the Turkish Embassy lowered its flag to half mast, a move that was highly visible to Israelis, both because it was made on a Friday, when the Tel Aviv promenade is crowded with people, and because of the prominent location of the embassy. Later, a drone trailing an Israeli flag hovered over the embassy building, angering the Turks.

The embassy has also been a source of stability in relations between Israel and Turkey. Commercial relations between the two countries were not damaged in previous crises, such as the Marmara flotilla in 2010, and the expulsion of Israeli ambassador Eitan Na’eh from Ankara in 2018, following the deaths of Palestinians at the hands of the IDF in riots on the Gaza Strip border. In 2021, the last year before the Abraham Accords began to make an impact, Turkey was by far Israel’s biggest trading partner in the Middle East. Imports from Turkey totaled $4.76 billion, and exports to the country totaled $1.91 billion. This was more than all trade with the UAE, Egypt, Jordan, Morocco, and Bahrain combined. In 2024, Turkey banned all exports of goods to Israel ports, in protest against the war in the Gaza Strip, but Israeli importers found ways of circumventing the ban. More recently, tensions have arisen over conflicting interests of the two countries in Syria, following the fall of President Assad’s regime.

Move could be a positive sign

At the beginning of this month, Turkish ambassador to Israel Sakir Ozkan Torunlar, who was recalled to Ankara in 2023, retired, and at the same time a new charge d’affaires has arrived in Tel Aviv.

Turkey has a consulate in Jerusalem. The consul general there is designated as “the ambassador to Palestine.” The current consul general, ?smail Cobanoglu, is responsible for Turkish affairs in Jerusalem, Judea and Samaria, and the Gaza Strip.

The move by the Turkish Embassy could be a positive sign. If Ankara were thinking of breaking off relations with Israel in support of Hamas, it is unlikely that it would be investing in the move, after decades on Hayarkon Street. And as the likelihood of a ceasefire in the Gaza Strip grows, the Palestinian issue is politically important to Erdogan, and in that respect he needs relations with Israel. It may be that Mapu Street will be the scene of more positive diplomacy between the two countries.

Published by Globes, Israel business news – en.globes.co.il – on May 28, 2025.

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