ISTANBUL, 13 November 2006 — Spain and Turkey issued a sharp condemnation of Israeli attacks on Palestinians yesterday ahead of a meeting between their prime ministers in Turkey on a wide range of issues aiming to improve relations between Islamic societies and the West.
Prime Ministers Jose Luis Rodriguez Zapatero of Spain and Recep Tayyip Erdogan of Turkey called on the international community to act urgently against Israeli attacks on Palestinians. “It’s not possible to accept what’s happening in Palestine. Innocent people, women, children and old people are killed,” Erdogan said during a news conference.
“The world can’t stay silent against these atrocities, against this use of excessive force,” he said. Zapatero underlined the necessity of an “urgent” intervention by the international community to stop Israeli bombings of the Palestinian territories.
The leaders also spoke of Turkey’s candidacy for entry into the European Union, threatened by a dispute over the island of Cyprus.
Turkey refuses to open its air and sea ports to craft flying the flag of the internationally-recognized Cyprus Republic, whose Greek Cypriot government controls the south of the divided island. This is despite a customs deal with all members of the 25-nation bloc it is seeking to join. Turkey also seeks a lifting of international sanctions on the Turkish-Cypriot statelet in the north, recognized only by Ankara.
“We only want one thing: the end of the isolation (of the Turkish Cypriots). If that’s done, we’ll open our ports and airports,” Erdogan said.
The Spanish and Turkish leaders also signed a “strategic document” to underline political, commercial and cultural relations between their two countries.
