Lapid is scheduled to meet with Turkish Foreign Minister Mevlüt Çavuşoλουlu during his visit, the foreign ministry’s office said on Sunday, days after the couple spoke by telephone about joint efforts to prevent such Iranian attacks. Israel has issued a series of repeated stern warnings to Israeli travelers in recent weeks to avoid visiting Turkey and said it had prevented attacks with the help of Turkish authorities. Ankara, meanwhile, has tried to dispel the idea that it is a dangerous place to visit, and has raised Israeli warnings. Lapid and Tsavusoglu most recently met face to face in late May, when the Turkish foreign minister paid a groundbreaking visit to the Jewish state. His trip was the first by a senior Turkish official to visit Israel in about 15 years, as Turkey’s relationship with Israel continued to thaw after a long period of hostility. Tsavousoglu spoke Sunday with Iranian Foreign Minister Hossein Amir-Abdollahian, according to the Iranian news agency Mehr News. The report said Tsavousoglu expressed the desire to “improve bilateral relations and increase mutual co-operation” with Tehran. Get the Times of Israel Daily E-mail and never miss our top stories By registering, you agree to the terms The news of Lapid’s upcoming trip came hours after President Isaac Herzog spoke by telephone with his Turkish counterpart, Recep Tayyip Erdogan, to discuss ongoing security co-ordination. According to Herzog’s spokesman, the president thanked Erdogan for Turkey’s efforts to protect Israeli travelers and stressed that “the threat has not yet passed and counter-terrorism efforts must continue.” Turkish MAT police officers walk in front of the Blue Mosque in Istanbul on June 14, 2022. (Yasin Akgul / AFP) The two leaders stressed “the great contribution of this cooperation to the trust that is being built between governments and nations”, according to the statement, and agreed to keep the channels of dialogue open. Since the beginning of last week, Israeli officials have been issuing urgent warnings that Iranian terrorist cells are seeking revenge for the assassination of a senior member of the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps in May by targeting Israelis in Turkey. Senior Israeli officials warned on Friday that there were “specific” threats that Iran was trying to carry out a terrorist attack on Israelis in Istanbul at the weekend and urged all citizens to leave Turkey immediately. He also ordered those who remained in the city to stay in their hotels. The warnings came amid unverified reports in the Jewish press that the Israeli and Turkish intelligence services had already jointly thwarted several planned attacks by a wide network of Iranian agents, arresting some of the suspects. There are currently estimated to be about 2,000 Israelis in Turkey. On Sunday, Channel 12 reported that fewer Israelis were heading to the country without providing updated information or sources. Channel 12 quoted officials as saying that Israeli agents were in Turkey cooperating with their Turkish counterparts in an effort to prevent the attacks, noting that there was excellent co-operation with local officials. According to the report, the Iranians had been planning attacks for months, apparently in retaliation for the killings of senior officers and others accused in Israel. Mourners gather around the coffin of Iranian Revolutionary Guards Colonel Sayyad Khodaei during a funeral procession in Imam Hussein Square in the capital, Tehran, on May 24, 2022. (ATTA KENARE / AFP) In late May, senior Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps officer Hassan Sayyad Khodaei was assassinated outside his home in Tehran. An unnamed U.S. intelligence official told the New York Times that Israel had told Washington that it had carried out the attack, which Israel had not confirmed. Khodaei’s assassination was the highest-profile assassination in Iran since the assassination of top nuclear scientist Mohsen Fakhrizadeh in November 2020. Sunday’s phone call is the fourth time Herzog and Erdogan have spoken by telephone since the Israeli president visited Turkey in March, amid a gradual rise in relations. Most recently, Herzog congratulated Erdogan and the Turkish people on Eid al-Fitr in early May, while Erdogan sent a congratulatory letter on the occasion of Israel Independence Day. On April 19, amid growing violence on Temple Mount between Palestinian and Israeli police, Erdogan called to express his “concern and pain” over the ongoing tensions. During the phone call, Erdogan stressed the importance of maintaining the religious status quo in the holy site of Jerusalem and said he was glad to hear Israel make firm statements about its preservation, according to a statement from Herzog’s office. President Isaac Herzog (left) and Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan at the presidential complex in Ankara on March 9, 2022. (Haim Zach / GPO) Erdogan also called on April 1 to condemn a series of Palestinian terrorist attacks that killed 11 people. For more than a decade, Turkey has been one of Israel’s harshest critics on the international stage. Top-level anti-Israel rhetoric, led by Erdogan, has reached the point of stroke. Ankara has also taken action to infuriate officials in Jerusalem, mainly by providing support and shelter to the Hamas terrorist group. Over the past two years, however, Erdogan has set a markedly different tone toward Israel, expressing interest in improving ties with his former and possibly future ally. Times of Israel staff contributed to this report. It is not (only) for you. Times of Israel support is not a transaction for an online service such as subscribing to Netflix. 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