- Title: JERUSALEM: TURKISH PM TAYYIP ERDOGAN MEETS ISRAELI PRESIDENT MOSHE KATSAV
- Date: 1st May 2005
- Summary: (W3) JERUSALEM (MAY 1, 2005) (REUTERS) 1. SLV TURKISH PRIME MINISTER TAYYIP ERDOGAN ARRIVING FOR MEETING WITH ISRAELI PRESIDENT MOSHE KATSAV 0.05 2. SV ERDOGAN AND KATSAV SHAKING HANDS 0.22 3. SV/CU ERDOGAN SIGNING BOOK OF GUESTS IN PRESIDENT'S FORMAL RESIDENCE (4 SHOTS) 0.50 4. MCU KATSAV AND ERDOGAN'S WIVES CHATTING 0.57 5.
- Embargoed: 16th May 2005 13:00
- Keywords:
- Location: JERUSALEM
- City:
- Country: Israel
- Reuters ID: LVA7FC9EQBWRTMML5C2HPBMS0MCF
- Story Text: Turkish PM Erdogan meets Israeli President Moshe
Katsav.
Turkish Prime Minister Tayyip Erdogan met Israeli
leaders on Sunday (May 1) for a visit aimed at patching up
an alliance strained by a Palestinian revolt and promoting
Turkey as Middle East peacemaker.
He first held talks with Israeli President Moshe Katsav
in Jerusalem.
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".
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 two billion U.S. dollars in annual trade. Israeli
media said Erdogan's visit may include the signing of major
arms deals including a 400-500 million U.S. dollars upgrade
of Turkish warplanes.
Erdogan is scheduled to visit the West Bank on Monday
(May 2) to meet Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas, whose
election to succeed Yasser Arafat in January stirred hopes
of ending more than four years of fighting with Israel.
Abbas and Sharon declared a ceasefire in February, and
the sides are in talks on coordinating Israel's
"disengagement plan" to withdraw from the occupied Gaza
Strip this summer. Erdogan pledged to help seek agreement.
Erdogan had previously criticised 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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