Turkish President Tayyip Erdogan on Wednesday hosted at his palace in Ankara the country's chief rabbi along with a group of rabbis from communities, cities and countries in the Muslim world.
During the meeting, Erdogan issued a series of surprising statements about his attitude towards Jews and Israel.
"Relations between Turkey, Jews and Israel will always be strong," he said. "Economic relations between the two countries are stronger than ever and will continue to grow."
According to the rabbis present at the meeting, Erdogan also said that normalizing relations with Israel is an important goal that will be achieved "soon".