ANKARA (A.A) - 05.04.2002 - Foreign Minister Ismail Cem said on Friday that the Turkish-Israeli relations and the Middle East problem have to be considered separately from each other.
The government's imposing sanctions against Israel won't contribute to the solution of the problem, said Cem in the response he gave to the question with notice submitted by Felicity Party (SP) deputy Lutfi Yalman.
Noting that Turkey maybe is the only country which gained the trust of both Israel and Palestine, Cem said that ''Turkey will continue to extend support to efforts that can prepare the basis of a permanent Arab-Israeli peace and to speed up efforts aiming to overcome the difficulties faced by the Palestinian administration and people. It will be proper to separate Turkey's relations with Israel which are not directed at any third country from the Middle East problem which has its own dynamics.''
ECEVIT: HIS WORD CAUSED COMMENTS BEYOND PURPOSE
Prime Minister Bulent Ecevit said on Friday that the word of ''genocide'' he used during his speech at the Democratic Left Party (DSP) group meeting had caused some comments beyond its purpose.
Releasing a statement, Prime Minister Ecevit said, ''it was understood that the word of 'genocide' in my speech at the DSP group meeting caused comments beyond my purpose. I referred to possible serious results of the incidents in the Middle East during my speech. My words reflected Turkey's concerns about recent developments in the region.''
PRESS AGENCIES ISSUE COMMON STATEMENT FOR ISRAEL
Press Agencies issued a common statement on Friday calling Israel not to target journalists and not to prevent the works of Palestinian journalists.
The Association of European Journalists's Representation in Turkey, Progressive Journalists Association, Economy Correspondents Association, Diplomacy Correspondents Association, Photojournalists Association, Parliament Correspondents Association, Professional Cameramen Association, Turkey Journalists Trade Union and Turkey Journalists Association issued a common statement titled ''Open Letter to Israeli Government.''
''The casualties among journalists in the region increases. The number of journalists who were hit and injured reached 10 to date. We call the Israeli government and army not to target journalists any more. The regions which are occupied are closed to the press. The aim is to hide the war, which does not abide by rules, from the world public opinion. Closing a region on which the whole world has its eyes, to the press is censorship. We see that Israel, which claims to be a democratic state both occupies the Palestinian territories and it also fights with journalists. We call Israel to immediately stop this fight which targets media and human rights. The last Palestinian Radio which broadcast in Ramallah was silenced yesterday. We know that our Palestinian colleagues suffer the most from the pressure imposed on media. Palestinian journalists who are not supported by big media organizations, who can't protect themselves, are taken as target systematically. They are not allowed to work. We call our Palestinian colleagues to continue working despite the dreadful conditions they have and announce that we are supporting them,'' it was noted.