Turkish MPs host Mid-East leaders

14/11/2007| IslamWeb

The Israeli and Palestinian presidents have addressed the Turkish parliament in Ankara and praised Turkey as an important ally in the peace process.

Shimon Peres's speech was the first to a parliament by an Israeli head of state anywhere in the Muslim world.

He and Mahmoud Abbas also discussed a Turkish proposal to set up an industrial zone in the West Bank.

Turkey is keen to take a greater role in Middle East peacemaking.

The BBC's Sarah Rainsford in Ankara says their visit is a public relations coup for Turkey.

It comes just weeks before an American-sponsored Middle East peace conference is due to take place in the United States, aimed at re-launching Israeli-Palestinian peace negotiations, which broke down amid violence in 2000.

Mr Peres and Mr Abbas met earlier at Turkey's presidential palace for talks on establishing the industrial zone. It is hoped the zone will generate 5,000 jobs in the economically depressed Palestinian territories.

Direction and acceleration

Mr Peres hailed the Annapolis conference as an "historic opportunity" but warned that it must not turn into "an historic failure".

Speaking in Hebrew, he said that the conference would tackle issues "in depth" and give the peace process "a direction, a framework and acceleration".

"Let me underline that Israel is determined to end this disagreement. Peace is in Israel's interest," Mr Peres said.

Palestinian Authority President Mr Abbas issued a similar call in Arabic, in what also was the first address by a Palestinian leader to the Turkish parliament.

"Making light of this opportunity could lead to dangerous consequences," he said, speaking through an interpreter.

The addresses were delivered in the presence of Turkish MPs and President Abdullah Gul - a former Islamist who had earlier urged Israel to stop its settlement activity in the occupied West Bank.

Back in Jerusalem, Prime Minister Ehud Olmert, who holds the top political position in Israel's system, described the president's invitation to address the Turkish parliament as "extraordinary".

Israel's presidency is a largely ceremonial role that caps Mr Peres's long political career, during which he was the architect of the 1990s Oslo peace process which ran out of steam in 2000.

The visits are taking place on the margins of an economic forum of Turkish, Israeli and Palestinian business people in Ankara.

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Turkey parliament