TURKISH PRES. PLANS TO VISIT NEXT MONTH
By Zvi Bar’el

Ha’aretz
Dec 9 2008
Israel

Turkish President Abdullah Gul is planning to visit Israel in early
January. This will be his first visit as president, though he came
here three times in his previous role as foreign minister.

A senior Turkish official told Haaretz that Gul will meet with
President Shimon Peres, and that they will discuss advancing the
indirect negotiations between Israel and Syria. They will also discuss
the Iranian nuclear threat, an issue on which they disagreed sharply
when Peres visited Ankara last year. Advertisement

At that time, Gul said that Turkey believes every country is entitled
to nuclear energy, and it therefore has no problem with Tehran’s
nuclear program.

Asked whether January, a month before Israel’s elections, is a good
time for the three-day visit, the official answered: "Relations between
Turkey and Israel are important at every level, so regardless of the
elections, we think this visit must take place."

Another issue on Gul’s agenda will be Ankara’s efforts to prevent
the Turkish slaughter of Armenians in 1915 from being recognized as
genocide. U.S. President-elect Barack Obama expressed willingness to
recognize the killings as genocide during his campaign, and Gul is
expected to ask Israel to use its influence in Washington to try to
prevent this.