Last update - 00:00 14/11/2007
Abbas in Ankara: U.S. must pressure Israel to reach accord with PA
By Barak Ravid, Haaretz Correspondent
Senior members of the entourage of Palestinian Authority Chairman Mahmoud Abbas now visiting Turkey were very pessimistic Tuesday about the Annapolis conference scheduled for the end of the month.
Abbas advisor Nabil Abu Rudeineh said the Palestinians want the United States to "pressure Israel so as to be able to reach an agreed-on declaration." He said Foreign Minister Tzipi Livni and Defense Minister Ehud Barak were both creating obstacles.
"Political problems in Israel are preventing progress in the formulation of a joint declaration," Rudeineh told Israeli journalists accompanying President Shimon Peres, who was also visiting Ankara. "There are great gaps between the negotiating teams, and as of now there is no agreement on a common declaration," Abu Rudeineh said.
Peres and Abbas met Tuesday in Ankara, in the company of their host, President Abdullah Gul, and the two leaders addressed the Turkish parliament. Peres' speech, the first by an Israeli to a Muslim parliament, was given in Hebrew and had a conciliatory tone, whereas Abbas delivered a hard-line message, giving no hint that the Palestinians were willing to compromise on anything before meeting the Israelis in Maryland.
"East Jerusalem is an inseparable part of the occupied territories," he told the Turkish lawmakers. "There will be no Palestinian state in a capital other than Jerusalem. There is suffering in Jerusalem stemming from the siege and the separation fence. The fence hurts Christians and Muslims who cannot reach their holy places, and this impairs religious pluralism in the city," Abbas declared.
The Palestinian also said the Annapolis conference was "an extraordinary opportunity," but added that "near-sighted positions must not be taken, and the status-quo must not be sustained," because serious long-term repercussions would ensue. Abbas added that in addition to the Palestinian problem, the matter of "the occupied Lebanese lands and the question of the occupied Golan Heights" also had to be addressed, as well as "a solution for the five million Palestinian refugees, in keeping with United Nations resolutions."
Abbas said the "fence and the occupation would not lead to security for Israel, nor would the holding of thousands of prisoners and roadblocks in the West Bank. All these will only lead to more tension and violence that will break out again."
Abbas insisted to Israeli reporters after his speech that it had not been extreme. "All I ask is that Israel follow the United Nations resolutions," he said.
Peres told the Turkish parliament that Israel "is committed to bringing about an end to the conflict." He said the Annapolis conference could "lead to the establishment of a Palestinian state alongside Israel," and that, "together we can end emnity and terror."
Peres said "peace, like war, cannot be unilateral, it must be multi-lateral, like hope," and that Israel was committed to a two-state solution.
Peres moved his audience by quoting from the work of a Turkish national poet, and also thanked the Turkish people for taking in the Jews after the expulsion from Spain.
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