Israelis Stop Flocking to Turkey

The number of Israelis visiting Turkey has dropped by 44% since the Gaza war caused a diplomatic crises between the two countries, the Association of Turkish Travel Agencies has said. Israeli visits to Turkey had boomed in the years preceding the Gaza war, with well over half a million Israeli tourists visiting the country in 2007 and 2008. But the Association of Turkish Travel Agencies has reported that just over 311,000 Israeli tourists visited Turkey in 2009, a 44% drop from the 558,000 Israeli tourists in 2008. Despite recent reports in Turkish media that Israeli tourism was on the comeback, last month saw a 40% decrease in Israeli tourists relative to the figures for December 2008, when the Gaza war began. Israel and Turkey have been engaged in a public diplomatic crisis since Israel launched a military operation in Gaza in 2008. Accusations that Israel had committed war crimes in Gaza led to a heated exchange between Israeli President Shimon Peres and Turkish Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdoğan at an international conference in Davos.
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