- Title: TURKEY: U.S. envoy says Turkey has a key role in middle-east peace
- Date: 27th February 2009
- Summary: ANKARA, TURKEY (FEBRUARY 26, 2009) (REUTERS) CAMERA CREWS LINED UP MITCHELL ARRIVING FOR NEWS CONFERENCE CAMERA CREWS FILMING (SOUNDBITE) (English) U.S. SPECIAL MIDDLE EAST ENVOY GEORGE MITCHELL SAYING: "As an important democratic nation with strong relations with Israel it has a unique role to play and can have significant influence on our efforts to promote comprehensi
- Embargoed: 14th March 2009 12:00
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- Location: Turkey
- Country: Turkey
- Reuters ID: LVABNBBN32847K3AVDSWXPTKVPSK
- Story Text: U.S. special envoy to the Middle East George Mitchell said on Thursday (February 26) Turkey would play a key role in President Barack Obama's efforts to achieve peace in the Middle East.
Mitchell, in Turkey as part of a regional tour that will also take him to Israel and the West Bank, said Ankara's close ties with Israel and Arab countries was an asset for Obama's promise to make Arab-Israeli peace a foreign policy priority.
"As an important democratic nation with strong relations with Israel it has a unique role to play and can have significant influence on our efforts to promote comprehensive peace in the Middle East," Mitchell said after meeting Turkish Prime Minister Tayyip Erdogan.
NATO member Turkey, a predominantly Muslim but officially secular country, has played a major role as a Middle East mediator in the past, in particular in bringing arch-foes Israel and Syria to indirect negotiations.
Those talks collapsed after Israel's offensive in Gaza. Turkey's fierce criticism of Israel's campaign in the Gaza Strip has soured ties between the two Middle East allies, but diplomats and analysts have said damage should be short-term.
Mitchell also welcomed Turkey's planned participation in the donor meeting in Egypt's Sharm el-Sheikh resort on March 2 which aims to raise humanitarian and rebuilding funds for Gaza after Israel's invasion at the end of last year, which killed 1,300 Palestinians. U.S. Secretary of State Hillary Clinton is expected to announce a "substantial" pledge of U.S. aid for Gaza and the Palestinian Authority at the conference.
"We welcome Turkey's participation in the upcoming donor conference in Sharm al Sheikh and we look forward to its leadership as we actively pursue that peace beginning with a durable ceasefire and with strong efforts to meet the humanitarian needs in Gaza," Mitchell said.
Ankara has also been active in bridging a Palestinian rift between the Western-backed Palestinian Authority of President Mahmoud Abbas, which controls the occupied West Bank, and the Islamist militant group Hamas that rules the Gaza Strip.
Erdogan told Mitchell that Hamas should not be excluded from any lasting peace agreement, a Turkish government official who was present during the talks told Reuters.
Erdogan's government holds regular contacts with the Islamic groups Hamas, to the dismay of Israel.
Mitchell was appointed last month to the post of Middle East envoy, responsible for Israeli-Palestinian negotiations. - Copyright Holder: REUTERS
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