MILLIYET- Columnist Sami Kohen writes on the joint initiative taken by the Greek and Turkish foreign ministers to help the Middle East. A summary of his column is as follows:
The idea to travel to the Middle East together came from Greek Foreign Minister Papandreou. On Saturday he asked Cem if the two countries could not jointly launch a peace initiative to end the clashes between Israel and Palestine. On the same day, Cem called his Israeli colleague Shimon Peres and expressed that together with Papandreou they would like to visit the region and meet with Yassar Arafat, who was under siege in Ramallah. Peres was in favor of this visit, but he had to check the views of the wider Israeli leadership. Yesterday Peres called Cem and expressed the approval of his government. The Israeli foreign minister informed the Turkish parliamentarians who were visiting Jerusalem of the new development. Barring any last-minute obstacles, Cem and Papandreou will begin their joint peace mission next week. This welcome event is quite significant, as just a few days ago EU current Term President Spain’s Foreign Minister Pique and EU Foreign Relations Commissioner Javier Solana proposed making a similar visit, but their request was rejected. The approval of an initiative launched by Cem and Papandreou is a success. As Cem has pointed out, this initiative has a symbolic meaning. The two neighboring countries, notwithstanding their longstanding disputes, recently have entered an era of rapprochement. Now, they are going to act in unison in the Middle East. This shows that these two countries have vital common interests in the region. Both countries believe in working together on the issue. Some may ask if Turkey could not have acted alone. Maybe the Greeks are asking themselves the same question. However, the importance of the mission comes from the partnership of these two states. The first aim of Cem and Papandreou is to end all the hostilities on both sides. If there is a ceasefire in advance of their visit and Israeli forces pull back, the ground will be more fertile for further steps. Ankara hopes that such a promising atmosphere will be created following the visit of US Secretary of State Colin Powell. In that case, Cem and Papandreou will discuss how to carry out the recent UN Security Council resolutions and the Tenet and Mitchell plans both with Israel and Palestine. Arafat represents the Palestinian side. Both for Turkey and Greece, Arafat is the legal leader of Palestine. In his latest statement at the Knesset Israeli Prime Minister Ariel Sharon lashed out at Arafat and said that he did not accept him as his counterpart. However, the international community and even the US, which does not trust him, both say that Arafat cannot be excluded from any negotiations and that the restrictions over him must be lifted without delay. No one expects miracles from the Cem-Papandreou mission. Turkish diplomats are cautious about the results. However, the aim of Turkish diplomacy is to initiate a concerted action and include the US, the EU, the UN, Russia and the OIC into the process. If this is accomplished, the mission will have achieved success.
SOURCE: OFFICE OF THE PRIME MINISTER, DIRECTORATE GENERAL OF PRESS AND INFORMATION