Haaretz: Gul Brought A Message With Him From Damascus

JERUSALEM (AA) - The Haaretz Newspaper, one of the leading dailies in Israel, said on Tuesday that Turkish Foreign Minister & Deputy Prime Minister Abdullah Gul, who is currently paying a state visit to Israel, brought a message with him from Damascus.
     In an interview with the Haaretz Newspaper, Gul said, ''Turkey believes that Syria is serious about making peace with Israel. Ankara hopes to receive a positive response from Jerusalem to the message from Damascus.''
     Gul declined to detail the content of the message he delivered to Prime Minister Ariel Sharon of Israel at their meeting on Tuesday, but stressed, ''in my estimation, the Syrian signals are serious and their intentions are good. They want to take part in the peace process; they expressed willingness to resume negotiations without preconditions; and they expect a positive Israeli response.''
     Citing Prime Minister Sharon's new government and the disengagement plan, Gul said, ''there are positive signals from Israel about the peace process. Israel should take advantage of the 'new atmosphere' to make peace not only with the Palestinians, but with Syria and Lebanon as well.''
     ''Turkey can play a role in negotiations with both Syria and the Palestinians, since it has the trust of all the parties concerned,'' he said.
     Asked whether Turkey no longer thought that Israel practiced 'state terrorism,' Gul responded, ''we need to put all that behind us because of the new atmosphere in the region. This is not the time to criticize, but to look at the positive things. If we begin discussing these things, we will find that there are charges and countercharges, and this isn't the time to deal with them.''
     Asked whether Turkish Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan would also visit Israel, Gul responded, ''why not? Usually, the foreign minister prepares the ground for the prime minister's visit, and that's true here as well; but no date has yet been set.''
     Referring to recent developments in Iraq, Gul said, ''what's important to us is democracy in the region. The government elected in Iraq must reflect the will of the people. The main thing is that Iraq remains united.''
     ''We accept the official Israeli claim that there is no Israeli activity in northern part of Iraq, even though there are conflicting claims,'' Gul added.
     (UK)
2005-01-04