The recent agreement to reestablish diplomatic ties between Israel and Turkey will not be affected by the attempted military coup against Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said on Sunday.

“Israel and Turkey recently agreed on a reconciliation process,” Netanyahu noted ahead of his weekly cabinet meeting. “It is our assumption that this process will continue regardless of the dramatic events in Turkey over the weekend.”

Israel released its first official response to the coup attempt in Turkey some 15 hours after it began on Friday evening, when most government business is officially placed on hold due to the Jewish Sabbath. “Israel respects the democratic process in Turkey and looks forward to the continuation of the reconciliation process between Turkey and Israel,” Emmanuel Nahshon, spokesman for Israel’s Foreign Ministry, told reporters.

At least 265 people — including coup supporters, police forces, and civilians — were killed during the attempt to overthrow Erdoğan’s administration, Turkish Prime Minister Binali Yildirim told reporters on Saturday. Thousands of military personnel linked to the coup were arrested, he added.

Israel and Turkey reached a reconciliation agreement after six years of estrangement this past June. Relations between the two countries devolved after the IDF’s 2010 raid on the Mavi Marmara, which attempted to break Israel’s legal naval blockade of the Hamas-ruled Gaza Strip. The deal is expected to open Turkey to Israeli natural gas exports, and the country could possibly serve as a gateway to European markets.

[Photo: Alex Kolomoisky / Flash90]