Tag: Turkey

Danny Ayalon, again

January 13, 2010

H.E. The Ambassador of Turkey
Mr. Ahmet Oguz Celikkol

His Excellency,

I wish to express my personal respect for you and the Turkish people and assure you that although we have our differences of opinion on several issues, they should be discussed and solved only through open, reciprocal and respectful diplomatic channels between our two governments.

I had no intention to humiliate you personally and apologize for the way the demarche was handled and perceived. Please convey this to the Turkish people for whom we have great respect.

I hope that both Israel and Turkey will seek diplomatic and courteous channels to convey messages as two allies should.

Sincerely,

Danny Ayalon
Deputy Foreign Minister of Israel

Ottoman power

Turkey has invited the President of Israel, Shimon Peres, and the President of the Palestinian Authority, Mahmoud Abbas (Abu Mazen) to address the Turkish Parliament next week.

The Israeli President and the Palestinian President will make their speeches together, in the same session of the Turkish Parliament, on 12 November in Ankara, a senior Turkish diplomat in Jerusalem confirmed on Wednesday.

Does this mean any greater involvement of Turkey in the Middle East peace process? “We will do what they ask us to do”, the senior Turkish diplomat said. “So far, they tell us, just keep on doing what you are already doing”.

The Israeli and Palestinian Presidents have been invited as official guests of Turkey’s President Abdullah Gul.

The Turkish invitation to the Palestinian President was confirmed on Tuesday, when the Turkish Consul-General in Jerusalem, Ercan Ozer, visited the Muqata’a (Palestinian Presidential Headquarters in Ramallah). The Consul-General’s car, a black limousine with a red Turkish flag posted on a small pole on the right side of the car’s hood, was parked inside the court of the Muqata’a, not far from the new light beige-pink stone memorial to the late Yasser Arafat, which is undergoing final touches before its official inauguration next week.
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