Turkish foreign minister on short visit to Israel, Palestinian territories

21 Aug, 2006

Turkish Foreign Minister Abdullah Gul left for Israel and the Palestinian territories on Sunday, where he is due to discuss Turkish participation in a UN-led intervention force in Lebanon.
"Violent ways and unilateral initiatives do not ensure durable peace and stability," Gul told reporters at Istanbul airport. "They have been tried and we saw that they led nowhere.
"We will state this position during our visit to Israel."
Gul added that he would "insist on the importance of appropriately applying resolution 1701", referring to the UN cease-fire resolution for Lebanon that came into effect last Monday.
Turkey, a member of Nato and one of Israel's few allies in the Middle East, has expressed willingness to take part in an international stabilisation force in Lebanon if there is a cease-fire and if Israel and Lebanon approve its deployment.
"We are still in an evaluation phase. We have not yet taken a decision. But without doubt these visits will contribute to this evaluation," Gul said. The Turkish foreign minister was in Lebanon Wednesday to discuss the issue with Lebanese Prime Minister Fouad Siniora and his French, Malaysian and Pakistani counterparts.
"The forces which go there don't have a mission to confront Hezbollah - which is part of Lebanon, which is represented in the Lebanese government - or to deal with any other group," he said.
The mission of the international force will be "to maintain peace - to install confidence so that new confrontations do not occur between the two parties - not to establish peace", the minister said.
In Israel, Gul is due to meet with Defence Minister Amir Peretz, Foreign Minister Tzipi Livni and Prime Minister Ehud Olmert.
He is due in the West Bank in the evening to meet with the president of the Palestinian Authority, Mahmud Abbas, before returning to Turkey.

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