JERUSALEM (Reuters) - Israel held unannounced diplomatic level talks with Turkey on Monday to explore prospects, after Turkish polls, of restoring an alliance that was once central to U.S. Middle East policy but has soured dramatically under Turkish leader Tayyip Erdogan.
The Islamist-rooted AK Party founded by Erdogan, who accused Israel last year of having "surpassed Hitler in barbarism" through attacks on Palestinian territories, lost its overall majority in a June 7 vote for the first time since taking power in 2002. It must now seek a coalition partners for government.