Turkey President: I'll Visit Israel Only after Life in Gaza Improves

Almanar

20/12/2009 Turkish President Abdullah Gul told Israeli President Shimon Peres at a private meeting in Copenhagen on Friday that only after Israel takes action to improve the humanitarian situation in the Gaza Strip would he pay Tel Aviv a visit.

The meeting, on the sidelines of the United Nations' global conference on climate change, took place during a period of high tension between the two states.

Spokesmen for Peres said the two presidents discussed the negotiations between Israel and the Palestinians and between Israel and Arab states.

Gul told Peres that Turkey seeks to advance the peace process, adding that Turkey's friendship with Israel is long-standing and will continue far into the future.

Gaza was a major topic discussed in the meeting. Members of Gul's entourage said that Peres invited his Turkish counterpart to visit the occupied territories, but that Gul stressed that he could do so only when the situation in Gaza improved.

He told Peres that the Turkish public is uneasy about unfavorable developments in Israel and the territories, adding that Israel should stop building in the settlements and withdraw to the 1967 borders to enable the creation of a Palestinian state.


 Uprooted Palestinian