Peres shines in Turkey, press stands at attention

ANKARA - On Monday of this week, President Shimon Peres sat in the splendid hall of the guest residence of the Turkish presidency. Holding a glass of white wine, he told stories to the Israeli journalists accompanying him on his official visit to Turkey. He spoke of events from the past, and experiences from the present, starting with David Ben-Gurion and Yitzhak Rabin, and moving on to the current project of electric cars in Israel.

"Am I bored as president?" he said with puzzlement in response to the question. "God forbid. In this role I am rediscovering Israel every day. I am much more pleased than I thought [I would be]. Perhaps I do not have much authority, but I also have no restrictions."

What about the Sunday cabinet meetings, another reporter asked. "That really is not something I miss. There is so much that I would not be able to do were I in the cabinet."

During his many trips abroad, before he became president, he used to end his work day late at night, after a long series of meetings. Still, Peres never gave up on a taste of the night life in Paris, Rome or New York. However, this time the security detail with him restricted the night cap to the sumptuous palace serving as guest residence.

Even though the hour was late, the reporters yawning and his aides could barely stand, Peres at 84 appeared alert and full of life. Even though he takes a two-hour break midday, his energy levels are impressive.

The Turks received Peres with all the pomp and ceremony expected for a man perceived here as an icon. In addition to the red carpet treatment, an honorary doctorate, and three different honor guards - with gun salutes, the Turkish media was in a frenzy, certainly by comparison to its counterparts in Israel. Dozens of news crews waited everywhere he was scheduled to appear, detailing everything, from his meetings to the traffic jams to the fact that one of the reporters accompanying him from Israel wore a skull cap.

At the center of his visit to Turkey was the Ankara Forum. Among the participants were businessmen from Israel, Turkey and the Palestinian Authority who want to pursue joint projects. In this meeting, the topic of discussion was an industrial park in Tarkumiye, near Hebron, to replace an earlier project at the Erez crossing that had to be shelved due to the situation in the Gaza Strip.

Even though it was only a matter of signing agreements for a few factories, the event at the presidential palace in Ankara was made to look like a veritable peace summit.

But Peres, being Peres, is a dreamer. "Economic development is what will bring about a drop in the violence," he declared, with President Abdullah Gul on one side and Palestinian Authority Chairman Mahmoud Abbas on the other.

During his visit, Peres made at least five speeches, all without needing to consult notes, and all on a variety of subjects, ranging from Iran's nuclear program to a nanotechnology project he is promoting.

On the plane home, his aides urged him to use the time to rest.

"Soon," he told them, and went to the back of the plane to greet the reporters, the security team and the flight attendants.