Update - Obama Offers Condolences Over Istanbul Airport Attack

DETAILS THE PHONE CALL WITH STATEMENT FROM ERDOGAN'S OFFICE, ADDS BACKGROUND



By Sinan Uslu and Enes Kaplan





Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan spoke to U.S. President Barack Obama Wednesday, with the latter offering his condolences over the terrorist attack on Istanbul's main airport.



According to a press release from Erdogan's office, Obama strongly condemned Tuesday night's attack, in which 42 people were killed. The attack was attributed to Daesh by Turkish authorities.



Obama also congratulated Erdogan on taking steps towards the normalization of ties between Turkey and Israel.



After months of talks, the agreement was announced by Turkey and Israel on Monday and signed by the two countries' foreign ministries Tuesday.



The deal calls for an exchange of ambassadors and stepped-up cooperation in several fields, including Israeli plans to export gas to European markets.



Turkish Prime Minister Binali Yildirim, for his part, praised the deal on Wednesday, saying it would also serve to ease the decade-long Israeli/Egyptian blockade of the Gaza Strip, going on to point out that Israel had agreed to allow Turkish humanitarian assistance to be delivered to Gaza via Israel's port of Ashdod.



Diplomatic relations between Turkey and Israel were suspended in 2010 after Israeli forces raided a convoy of aid ships attempting to break the blockade of Gaza, killing 10 Turkish activists on board, in international waters.



*Anadolu Agency correspondents Diyar Guldogan and Satuk Bugra Kutlugun contributed to this report from Ankara -