ANKARA - Rifat Hisarciklioglu, chairman of Union of Chambers & Commodity Exchanges of Turkey (TOBB), said on Thursday that it was the first time that Israeli and Palestinian Chambers of Commerce and Industry met and expressed their will for cooperation.
Hisarciklioglu held a joint press conference with Shraga Brosh, president of Manufacturers Association of Israel, and Ahmad Hashim al-Zogheir, chairman of Palestinian Chambers of Commerce, Industry and Agriculture.
TOBB Chairman Hisarciklioglu said that TOBB, Israeli and Palestinian unions formed ''Ankara Forum for Economic Cooperation Among Palestine, Israel and Turkey''.
Hisarciklioglu noted that Turkish Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan and Foreign Minister Abdullah Gul supported this initiative among the three unions.
SECOND MEETING OF ANKARA FORUM TO BE HELD IN JUNE
Hisarciklioglu said that the second meeting of Ankara Forum would be held in Jerusalem in the first half of June, and continued, ''Brosh referred to Palestinian-Israeli peace process, and said we should privatize the peace process. And, as Palestinian, Israeli and Turkish business circles, we are trying to do so and want to contribute to the peace process by doing our own business.''
''There is an opportunity, and there are politicians in both of the parties who have the will to make difficult decisions,'' added Hisarciklioglu.
Answering questions of reporters, Hisarciklioglu said that they envisaged cooperation in areas such as tourism, industry, infrastructure and agriculture and noted that the details would be discussed in June.
BROSH AND AL-ZOGHEIR
On the other hand, Shraga Brosh said that some good measures like ''opening doors to Palestinians, ensuring their trade with other countries and facilitating their lives'' can come out of their meetings.
Brosh stated that some positive results could be gained when discussions continued and said, ''I hope a better future will be brought to our region. We want all the world to live in peace, and we want to grow up our children in such an atmosphere.''
Meanwhile, Ahmad Hashim al-Zogheir summarized the aim of the meeting as ''making a trilateral contribution to economic cooperation and dialogue.''