Skip To Content
JEWISH. INDEPENDENT. NONPROFIT.
Breaking News

Israel Sends Condolences Over Turkey Mine Fire

Israel’s embassy in Turkey canceled a celebration of Israel’s Independence Day following the deadly mine collapse in Turkey.

Israeli President Shimon Peres also sent a letter of condolence to Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan following the mine collapse Wednesday in Manisa that trapped more than 700 miners underground. Erdogan said Wednesday that 238 miners had died and more than 200 remain trapped, while 363 have been rescued.

“I wish to extend my deepest condolences, and those of the people of Israel, to your country on the tragic accident in Manisa,” Peres said in the statement. “We are all shocked at the loss of life of innocent people at work and our thoughts are with the people of Turkey.”

The embassy’s celebration was scheduled for Wednesday, Israel’s Independence Day on the Gregorian calendar, even though it was observed on its Hebrew date last week in Israel, according to Haaretz.

Following a breakdown in relations in 2010, Israel and Turkey have been in reconciliation talks since last year. Recent reports indicate that an agreement is near.

Republish This Story

Please read before republishing

We’re happy to make this story available to republish for free, unless it originated with JTA, Haaretz or another publication (as indicated on the article) and as long as you follow our guidelines. You must credit the Forward, retain our pixel and preserve our canonical link in Google search.  See our full guidelines for more information, and this guide for detail about canonical URLs.

To republish, copy the HTML by clicking on the yellow button to the right; it includes our tracking pixel, all paragraph styles and hyperlinks, the author byline and credit to the Forward. It does not include images; to avoid copyright violations, you must add them manually, following our guidelines. Please email us at [email protected], subject line “republish,” with any questions or to let us know what stories you’re picking up.

We don't support Internet Explorer

Please use Chrome, Safari, Firefox, or Edge to view this site.