Palestinian-Israeli peace not achievable without Hamas-Fatah reconciliation: Turkish PM

WASHINGTON

Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdoğan was participating in an event at the Washington-based think tank The Brookings Institute. AA photo

No result can be expected in the Palestinian-Israeli peace process without reconciliation between Fatah and Hamas, Turkish Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdoğan said May 17 in Washington.

"A reconciliation process has been launched. I believe that the negotiations with Israel will move more quickly if they are able to achieve it," he said during an event at the Washington-based think tank Brookings Institute.

He said that during his notorious participation at the Davos summit in 2010, where he stormed out on Israeli President Shimon Peres during a panel, he had already told the representative of the Middle East Quartet, Tony Blair, that Hamas should sit at the negotiations table. "I told Tony Blair that no peace can come from a table without Hamas, and he said Hamas should participate to achieve peace," he said.

Erdoğan said Turkey could contribute to the process as it could communicate with both Palestinian groups. He also said Israel should accept the 1967 borders as well as the creation a Palestinian state.

Plan of talks with Russia on Syria

The prime minister said a second international meeting on Syria, branded as the "Second Geneva," referring to the key conference organized last year by former U.N. and Arab League envoy Kofi Annan, could be fruitful to allow the participation of Russia and China in the process. However, he added that a decision such a no-fly zone in Syria could only be adopted through the Security Council and not by an agreement between Turkey and the United States.


Erdoğan also told reporters after the event that he planned to visit several countries in the region as well as Russia for Syria talks. "My new plan is to visit the Gulf countries and particularly Russia to assess the situation there. My foreign minister and my intelligence chief are also currently in talks with their counterparts," he said.

Chemical weapons use 'documented'

Erdoğan emphasized that the use of chemical weapons in Syria had been documented. "The bombs of jets, the ballistic missiles and chemical weapons are documented. That everyone has accepted it [as a fact] is a matter of public diplomacy," he said.

Erdoğan and U.S. President Barack Obama said after their meeting at the White House May 16 that a democratic process without Syrian President Bashar al-Assad was needed for a democratic transition of the war-torn country.