TURKEY: ISRAELI DEFENCE MINISTER BINYAMIN BEN-ELIEZER MEETS WITH TURKISH PRESIDENT SEZER / SAYS THAT ISRAELI SOLDIERS HAVE NEVER INTENTIONALLY KILLED A PALESTINIAN CIVILIAN

Record ID: 400850

  • Title: TURKEY: ISRAELI DEFENCE MINISTER BINYAMIN BEN-ELIEZER MEETS WITH TURKISH PRESIDENT SEZER / SAYS THAT ISRAELI SOLDIERS HAVE NEVER INTENTIONALLY KILLED A PALESTINIAN CIVILIAN
  • Date: 9th July 2001
  • Summary: ANKARA, TURKEY (JULY 9, 2001)(REUTERS - ACCESS ALL) 1. SLV: TURKISH DEFENCE MINISTER WITH ISRAELI DEFENCE MINISTER BINYAMIN BEN-ELIEZER REVIEWING TROOPS 0.07 2. SV: JOURNALISTS 0.13 3. SV: TURKISH PRESIDENT AHMED NECDET SEZER WITH ISRAELI DEFENCE MINISTER BINYAMIN BEN-ELIEZER/ HANDSHAKE 0.25 4. SV: PHOTOGRAPHERS 0.30 5. VAR
  • Embargoed: 24th July 2001 13:00
  • Keywords:
  • Location: ANKARA, TURKEY
  • Country: Turkey
  • Reuters ID: LVAEZFS3YSCIT3SSK4X8HOG8QRUD
  • Story Text: Israeli Defence Minister Binyamin Ben-Eliezer has said
    that Israeli soldiers have never intentionally killed a
    Palestinian civilian.

    Beb-Eliezer made the comment during a visit to Turkey as
    controversy raged around a report that Israelis may have
    discussed possibly assassinating Palestinian President Yasser
    Arafat.


    The Israeli Defence Minister Binyamin Ben-Eliezer made
    the comments while in the Turkish capital city of Ankara for a
    one day visit on Monday (July 9) to meet Turkish President
    Ahmed Necdet Sezer, (pronounced Ahmed Neijdet Sazer).

    Ben-Eliezer also met Prime Minister Bulent Ecevit
    (pronounced Bulend Edjevit) and his counterpart the defence
    minister Sabahattin Cakmakoglu (pronounced Sabattin
    Djakmakolu) and the military chief of Staff Huseyin Kivrikoglu
    (pronounced Hossein Kivrikolu) in order to strengthen security
    ties between the two countries.

    At a news conference following the meeting, Ben-Eliezer
    spoke of the danger he said was posed by Iran's efforts to arm
    itself with non-conventional weapons. He said this would be
    the most serious problem
    in the region over the coming years and will have an
    influence on all that happens in the Middle East.

    On the Israeli-Palestinian conflict, Ben-Eliezer said that
    the peace process was in the hands of Arafat. And he denied
    that Israeli soldiers had ever intentionally killed any
    civilians -- or that the Israeli government would order an
    assassination of Palestinian President Yasser Arafat.

    "My soldiers never ever hit any civilians. So it is very
    easy. If Yasser Arafat would like to stop it (the spiral of
    violence) and I know him, I know him very well since 1967.

    Listen to me, you only have to do that. And it will take one
    day, two day. And the silence will
    take over -- then we can sit (down to peace negotiations."
    And addressing concerns about the death of an 11-year-old
    Palestinian boy, Ben-Eliezer said he felt equally bad when a
    child on either the Palestinian or Israeli side was killed in
    the violence.

    Ben-Eliezer was later due to attend a dinner given by
    Cakmakoglu at Merkez Orduevi in Ankara.
  • Copyright Holder: REUTERS
  • Copyright Notice: (c) Copyright Thomson Reuters 2015. Open For Restrictions - http://about.reuters.com/fulllegal.asp
  • Usage Terms/Restrictions: None
Register