RAMALLAH, 3 May 2005 — Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas welcomed the offer of Turkish Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan who reiterated yesterday that Ankara was prepared to pull out all necessary stops to advance the Middle East peace process.
Making his first visit to the West Bank, the Turkish premier made the announcement after talks with Abbas — the second meeting between the two in three months — and a day after he met his Israeli counterpart, Ariel Sharon.
“We have let it be known to the two parties, with whom we enjoy excellent relations, that we are completely ready to do anything we can to contribute toward peace,” Erdogan told reporters. “It is up to the two parties to determine the type of assistance that we can provide and carry out,” he added.
Following in the footsteps of Russian President Vladimir Putin last week, Erdogan was using a landmark two-day visit to Israel and the Palestinian territory to burnish Ankara’s credentials as a mediator for Middle East peace.
Abbas instantly welcomed the prospect of Turkish help in the peace process, despite a cool response from Israeli Foreign Minister Silvan Shalom.
He last met Erdogan in February when he visited Ankara on his first overseas trip after being elected Yasser Arafat’s successor.
“We want to see both a political and economic role for Turkey,” Abbas said, adding that Ankara could carve out a role as “an honest broker” through its good relations with both sides.
Erdogan, whose country is seen as Israel’s closest Muslim ally, confirmed he had asked Israeli ministers to support “President Abbas, strengthen him and give him a chance to carry out measures which will be to Israel’s advantage”. He also stressed the importance of trade links as a precursor to peace, recalling that Turkey had hosted a meeting of Turkish, Israeli and Palestinian businessmen in a bid to strengthen economic cooperation to cultivate peace.
Although a coordinator for economic cooperation between Turkey and the Palestinians was appointed, there was no mention of an expected Turkish offer to help rebuild the Gaza Strip after Israel’s withdrawal from the territory.
Erdogan began his visit by laying a wreath at the grave of the late Palestinian leader Yasser Arafat at the muqataa leadership compound in Ramallah, as has become customary for visiting foreign dignitaries.
Faced with Turkey’s offer and others like it, Israel would rather restrict Turkey’s role to providing economic assistance to the Palestinians, always wary of outside intervention from anyone but its allies in Washington.
Sharon suggested Turkey could build power stations, desalination plants and high-rise buildings for refugees in order to help the Palestinians economically after Israel’s redeployment from the Gaza Strip.
Shalom was also cool to the idea of Turkey acting as a mediator, saying that Ankara would do better to provide “economic and humanitarian aid” to the Palestinians.
Meanwhile, Israeli Cabinet minister Nathan Sharansky, one of US President George W. Bush’s intellectual guiding lights, resigned yesterday in protest at plans to pull Jewish settlers out of the Gaza Strip.
Sharansky, who became the sixth minister to either quit or be sacked in less than a year over opposition to Sharon’s disengagement plan, warned it would strengthen Palestinian militancy and divide Israeli society.
— With input from agencies
