''SHEIKH YASSIN HAS ORDERED KILLING OF 600 CIVILIANS''
ANKARA - Israeli Ambassador to Turkey Pinh Avivi has said that he did not think that Israel would also target Palestinian leader Yasser Arafat after the operation against Hamas leader Sheikh Ahmed Yassin.
Avivi and the accompanying delegation paid a visit of courtesy to A.A Director General and President of Executive Board Dr. Hilmi Bengi on Wednesday.
When he was recalled news stories claiming that Arafat was the next target of Israel, Avivi said that the Israeli government did not have any desire or plan to act against Arafat as it did to the leaders of terrorist organizations like Yassin.
Underlining that Arafat had also a political identity, Avivi said, ''I do not think Arafat will be a target for Israel.''
Noting that they were very close to peace with Palestinians three years ago, Avivi said he felt very sad about the incidents that occurred this week, but his country aimed not to harm peace, but clean the region from terrorism and threats.
Avivi said that Israel was planning to withdraw from Gaza rapidly and without any problem, but persons like Yassin and Hamas spokesman Abdel Aziz Rantisi created significant threats for Israel by using whatever they had.
''At this point, we had to decide. If we were to continue the process as two states including Israel and Palestine, we firstly had to clean the elements threatening the lives and the region,'' he said.
Emphasizing that he thought two countries' living together side by side was the only solution, Avivi said that Yassin had never believed in that.
Replying to a question how killing of Yassin would affect the peace process, Avivi said the peace can be provided by dialog, not with bloodshed. Avivi said that Jordan and Lebanon gained territories through dialog, not war, adding that Palestine also should increase cooperation and choose the path of dialog.
When he was recalled that Israel was blamed with resorting to ''state terrorism'', Avivi said leaders like Yassin or Osama bin Laden threatened not a single country, but the whole world.
''The only way to protect our people is to struggle as strongly as possible,'' he added.
''This is not a war between the United States and al-Qaida, Turkey and al-Qaida, or Israel and al-Qaida. This is a world war between two views. On one side, there is the civilized countries, and on the other side, those who want to take the world back to the Middle Ages. We do not want to go back to the Middle Ages,'' he said.
Replying to a question why Israel preferred executing Yassin instead of arresting him, Avivi said that the Israel government decided to release Yassin from prison twice and was mistaken on both cases. Avivi claimed that Yassin directly ordered killing of more than 600 civilians.
Noting that the news stories claiming that Israel had released a travel warning on Istanbul advising its citizens not to go to Istanbul, were misunderstood, Avivi said that the Israeli Ministry of Foreign Affairs had asked their views to take such a decision and the Israeli Embassy in Ankara informed the Israeli Ministry of Foreign Affairs that there was not any security problem in Istanbul.
Pointing out that the exchange of views between Israel and the Israeli Embassy in Ankara were commented by the press wrongfully that the Israel had officially released a travel warning, Avivi recalled that a delegation headed by the Israeli minister of industry and trade would hold meetings both in Ankara and Istanbul next week.
Noting that he would also accompany the delegation in Istanbul, Avivi added that he felt himself safe in Istanbul.
(UK-AÖ) 25.03.2004