Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas in Ankara for high-level talks

ANKARA

AA photo

Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas arrived in Ankara on Oct. 24 to hold talks with senior Turkish officials, including President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan, and to visit the parliament building that was bombed during the military coup attempt of July 15. 

Abbas’ visit comes as Turkey and Israel are preparing to appoint ambassadors to each other’s capitals, in a final step in the reconciliation of bilateral ties. 

The first stop of Abbas was Anıtkabir, the mausoleum of Atatürk, the founder of the modern Republic of Turkey. 

“I present my respects to the people of this noble country and to its former and current government. In this regard, we appreciate the role that the great leader Mustafa Kemal Atatürk played during the foundation of the Republic of Turkey,” Abbas wrote in the mausoleum’s special visitors’ book.   

“I convey the people of Palestine’s regards to the spirit of the great leader Atatürk, to the Turkish administration under Erdoğan’s leadership, and to the Turkish people,” he added. 

Abbas will be hosted by President Erdoğan at a dinner late on Oct. 24 after visiting parliament and meeting Parliament Speaker İsmail Kahraman.