BEIRUT: Former Lebanese Prime Minister Salim Hoss praised Turkey over the weekend after it downgraded relations with Israel and urged Arab states  to strengthen ties with Ankara.

“The ties between Turkey and Israel had for a long time been a stumbling block in terms of relations between Arab states and Turkey. Now that what has happened in terms of [reduction] in ties between Israel and Turkey has happened, Arabs are called on to cement and develop ties with Turkey,” Hoss said in statement Sunday.

“This is the least that should be [done] with a state that forms a strong supporter for Arab causes which naturally focuses on the Palestinian case,” Hoss added.

Relations between Turkey and Israel have deteriorated since the publishing of a U.N. report into the deaths of nine Turks in an attack on a Gaza-bound ship.

Turkey expelled Thursday Israel’s ambassador and froze military cooperation after the report in the 2009 incident failed to prompt an apology from Israel.

In his statement Sunday, Hoss praised Turkey on its stance toward Israel and said this should prompt positive gestures from Arab states.

“Turkey’s new position toward Israel should draw positive gestures from Arabs, for Turkey has expelled Israel’s ambassador and frozen cooperation with [Israel] after the release of the U.N. report that said nine Turkish citizens had been killed in an Israeli attack on a ship bound for Gaza,” Hoss said.

“The Turkish foreign minister also froze all military agreements between the two sides,” he added.

The secretary general of the United Nations, Ban Ki-moon, urged Turkey and Israel Saturday to mend ties between the two counties and accept the recommendations in the U.N. report.

The U.N. report found Israel’s naval blockade of the Gaza Strip was legal but that Israel used unreasonable force when its commandos raided the ship, which led to the death of the nine Turks.