Until two years ago, Israeli tourism in Turkey flourished, with more than half a million tourists visiting Turkey each year
Turkey's Culture and Tourism attachי to Israel, Inanc Ozcakmak was recalled from Tel Aviv on October 6th , with the intention of closing down the office in the near future.
Local tourism experts in Israel noted last week that Turkey has decided to have the $1.5 million annual budget of the Turkish Tourism Office in Tel Aviv frozen.
A Turkish source said that the attachי was recalled because of the "Israeli boycott" of Turkey since the Mavi Marmara incident in May 2010. He said that the absence of Israeli tourists in Turkey meant that there was no point in investing in tourist promotion efforts in Israel.
To date, Israel has warned its citizens several times over last year that traveling to Turkey could pose dangers, but have not issued any sort of official restriction. Until two years ago, Israeli tourism in Turkey flourished, with more than half a million tourists visiting Turkey each year.
The move was viewed as yet another installment of Turkey's diplomatic offensive against Israel, which began in May 2010 after Israel refused to apologize for their raid on the Gaza-bound Turkish ship Mavi Marmara, during which nine Turkish nationals died.
