JERUSALEM: TURKISH PRIME MINISTER TAYYIP ERDOGAN EXPRESSES NEED TO STRENGTHEN TIES WITH ISRAEL

Record ID: 217797

  • Title: JERUSALEM: TURKISH PRIME MINISTER TAYYIP ERDOGAN EXPRESSES NEED TO STRENGTHEN TIES WITH ISRAEL
  • Date: 3rd May 2005
  • Summary: (BN01) JERUSALEM (MAY 1, 2005) (REUTERS) 1. SLV TURKISH PRIME MINISTER TAYYIP ERDOGAN AND ISRAELI PRIME MINISTER ARIEL SHARON WALKING TOWARDS PODIUM 0.16 2. (SOUNDBITE) (Hebrew) SHARON SAYING: "I must say that after I heard the prime minister's words I do not intend to give up on his experience, his leadership and on his ability to promote the rel
  • Embargoed: 18th May 2005 13:00
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  • Location: JERUSALEM
  • City:
  • Country: Israel
  • Reuters ID: LVA5SXM24LH5F2KW8SQHU2UGJNDE
  • Story Text: Turkish PM Erdogan expresses need to strengthen ties with Israel.

    Turkish Prime Minister Tayyip Erdogan met his Israeli counterpart,
    Ariel Sharon on Sunday (May 1, 2005) where he expressed the need to strengthen ties
    with Israel.

    "I must say that after I heard the prime minister's words I do
    not intend to give up on his experience, his leadership and his ability to
    promote the relations between the two countries and to promote the efforts to
    push forward peace in the region," Erdogan told reporters during a joint
    news conference with Sharon at his Jerusalem residence.

    Erdogan was on a visit aimed at patching up an alliance strained by a
    Palestinian revolt and promoting Turkey as a Middle East peacemaker.

    It was the first trip to the Jewish state for Erdogan, whose ruling
    party has roots in political Islam and who last year raised Israeli hackles by
    likening Prime Minister Ariel Sharon's crackdowns in the West Bank and Gaza
    Strip to "state terrorism".

    "In the framework of the relations that have their own dynamics,
    we have expressed the will to strengthen the relations even more,"
    Erdogan told reporters.

    Erdogan met separately with Israeli Vice Premier Shimon Peres and was
    scheduled to meet other Israeli leaders before heading to the West Bank on
    Monday (May 2) to meet the Palestinian leadership.

    Muslim but secular Turkey is one of the few nations in the region to
    enjoy cordial ties with both Israel and the Palestinians, as well as with
    Israel's arch-foes Syria and Iran.

    Israel counts Turkey as its most important regional ally, with $2
    billion in annual trade. Israeli newspaper Haaretz said Erdogan's visit would
    include the signing of major arms deals including a $400-$500 million upgrade
    of Turkish warplanes.

    Abbas and Sharon declared a ceasefire in February, and the sides are in
    talks on co-ordinating Israel's "disengagement plan" to withdraw
    from the occupied Gaza Strip this summer. Erdogan pledged to help seek
    agreement.

    Erdogan had previously blasted Sharon's policies toward the Palestinian
    revolt that erupted in September 2000, blaming them for stalled peace talks.

    Two Turkish diplomats in Israel were briefly recalled last year in what was
    seen as a protest.

    Erdogan has tried to forge closer ties with the Arab world without
    altering Turkey's traditional pro-Western orientation. He hosted Arab foreign
    ministers in Istanbul over the weekend.


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