President Recep Tayyip Erdogan ended a six-year rift with Israel and unexpectedly moved to mend ties with Russia, as Turkey attempts to draw a line under diplomatic confrontations that had sapped its economy and left it isolated in the region.
Erdogan sent a letter to President Vladimir Putin regretting the shooting down of a Russian combat plane in November, an incident that plunged ties between the two countries into crisis. News of the reconciliation effort came hours after Turkey and Israel on Monday agreed to repair relations damaged by a deadly maritime clash in 2010 between Israeli commandos and pro-Palestinian Turkish activists. Turkey and Israel formally signed the deal yesterday, according to state-run Anadolu Agency.
The feuds that Turkey set out to end had become intertwined. Talks with gas-rich Israel gained momentum after Turkey downed the Russian jet and Ankara sought to cut its reliance on Russian fuel. In addition to the economic benefits, the twin-track rapprochement may bolster the Turkish government, which has found itself increasingly sidelined amid attempts to end regional conflicts, especially in Syria where Moscow is now a dominant international player.
“We are taking steps to end the crisis and economic cooperation will follow,” Turkish Prime Minister Binali Yildirim told state-run TRT television in an interview late on Monday. “We will pretend the last six months never happened and keep going.” Erdogan will speak to Putin by phone today, according to the Turkish leader’s media office.
Russia and Turkey will resume investments and cooperation in tourism, said Yildirim. Putin has repeatedly stated his wish for good relations with Turkey, Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov told reporters on conference call yesterday. Erdogan took a “very important step” with letter, Peskov said.
Investors cheered both steps, which pave the way for Israeli gas imports and the lifting of Russian economic sanctions that have been especially damaging for Turkey’s tourism industry. The number of Russian tourists visiting Turkey fell 92% in May compared to a year ago, according to official data published yesterday.
The shares of Israeli and Turkish energy companies advanced on Monday. Turkish Airlines, the nation’s flagship carrier, rose 3.9%, regaining some ground from a 20% drop this year as Russian trade curbs and a series of attacks by Islamic State militants in Ankara and Istanbul weighed on business.
“Two big foreign policy openings were implemented on a single day,” said Ozdem Sanberk, a former ambassador to London and Brussels and currently the president of International Strategic Research Organisation, an Ankara think-tank. “The same incentive is valid for Turkey in both cases: Turkey wants to stop being alone.”
Turkey is ready to develop economic ties with Egypt despite its opposition to former president Mohamed Mursi ouster, Yildirim said. “There is no obstacle to developing economic relations,” he said. “Our businessmen and investors can pay mutual visits and prepare the ground for normalization. Even visits at the ministerial level may start. We are ready for this without any reservations.”
Turkey is also fighting autonomy-seeking Kurdish militants after a three-year lull, and the economy has been stretched by the arrival of nearly 3mn refugees fleeing violence in Iraq and Syria.
Trade between Russia and Turkey, which had topped $30bn annually, plunged after the jet downing. 
The two countries differed in their interpretation of the letter from Erdogan. “Apology or not, Turkey relayed its regrets and Russians took it as an apology. The step that Russia was waiting for was taken,” Sanberk said. 
Turkey was once one of Israel’s closest allies, their partnership based on strong military and economic ties. Relations began to fray after Erdogan took power in Turkey in 2003 at the head of an Islamist-oriented government, and his rancorous criticism of Israel’s 2008 Gaza Strip incursion created serious strains.
Diplomatic ties were severed after the 2010 confrontation at sea, which led to the deaths of 10 Turks. Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu apologised at the urging of visiting President Barack Obama in 2013, but that didn’t blossom into reconciliation. It took Turkey’s confrontation with Russia to turn the tide.