Israel names first ambassador to Turkey since 2010

Jerusalem: Israel nominated a new ambassador to Turkey on Tuesday, its first since the two countries normalised ties after the 2010 crisis triggered by Israel's deadly storming of a Gaza-bound ship.

Eitan Naeh was formally selected by a government committee, said foreign ministry spokesman Emmanuel Nahshon.

He said the timeline for him being confirmed was not yet determined.

Naeh, the current deputy head of mission at the Israeli embassy in London, will become his country's first ambassador to Turkey since Israeli commandos raided a Gaza-bound ship of activists in 2010.

The raid killed 10 Turks and prompted Ankara to expel the Israeli ambassador.

The two sides finally agreed in June to end the bitter six-year rift after long-running secret talks in third countries with Israel offering USD 20 million in compensation, an apology over the raid and permission for Turkish aid to reach Gaza.

The normalisation agreement had been urged by the United States, which is keen to see its NATO ally, overwhelmingly Muslim Turkey, resume its previously tight relationship with Israel.