Tourism minister tells fellow Israelis: ‘Don’t go to Turkey’

Tourism Minister Yariv Levin has told fellow Israelis not to travel to Turkey, amid a diplomatic row between the two countries over dozens of Palestinian deaths in the Gaza Strip. “I say unequivocally, don’t go to Turkey. And I would say this before the last events,” Levin told the Ynet news website in remarks published on Thursday. Turkey is a major destination for Israeli tourists, with some 380,000 Israelis visiting in 2017, according to official statistics. President Recep Tayyip Erdogan said Israel committed “genocide” and Israel’s ambassador to Ankara was asked to leave the country. Israel subsequently asked Turkey’s consul general in Jerusalem to leave the country.