07 November 2007
Israel’s president, Shimon Peres, is to visit the Turkish capital Ankara next week and become the first head of the Jewish state to address the Turkish parliament. Prime minister Ehud Olmert said: "President Peres will make an historic visit to Turkey where he will deliver a speech before the Turkish parliament, an unprecedented event. Turkey is an important democratic, Muslim country that can play a big role in bringing us closer to the Arab world. It is a friendly country," the PM said.
Palestinian president Mahmud Abbas, with whom Israel is negotiating an outline solution to the Middle East conflict ahead of a meeting in the United States, would be in Turkey at the same time, Palestinian officials said. Peres is to leave for Turkey on Sunday for a two-day visit. Olmert also reiterated hope that Syria would attend the international meeting, which the Palestinians said would take place "in principle" on 26 November in Annapolis, Maryland. "The invitations have not yet been issued," Olmert said. "Syria's attendance at this meeting would be a good thing," he added.
In an interview published on Tuesday, Turkey’s president Abdullah Gül said that Israel and Syria had missed many chances to revive peace negotiations, while praising Syrian president Bashar al-Assad’s ‘desire for peace’. "There were many missed opportunities recently to begin peace negotiations between you and Syria. To the best of my knowledge, Bashar Assad demonstrated a real desire for peace with you.” Gül told the Israeli newspaper ‘Maariv’.
