WEST BANK: Turkish Foreign Minister Ali Babacan meets with Palestinian Prime Minister Salam Fayyad in Ramallah

Turkish Foreign Minister Ali Babacan concludes a three-day visit to Israel and the Palestinian territories, with a meeting with the Palestinian Prime Minister Salam Fayyad at his offices in Ramallah. Turkish Foreign Minister Ali Babacan met Palestinian Prime Minister Salam Fayyad on Tuesday (October 9) as Fayyad's government prepares for a U.S.-sponsored Middle East Conference scheduled for November. In the West Bank city of Ramallah, Foreign Minister Babacan arrived at the Council of Ministers for a meeting with Salam Fayyad to conclude his three-day visit to Israel and the Palestinian territories. Babacan also met with Israeli leaders on Monday (October 8), a day after visiting Syria and meeting with the Syrian President Bashar al-Assad. The Turkish foreign minister's visit to the region comes at a period of increased tension between Israel and Syria - another of Turkey's neighbours. Israel is believed to have launched an attack on Syria on September 6th. An Israeli military jet fuel tank was recovered on Turkish territory after the reported attack. Despite Babacan timely arrival in Jerusalem, the Turkish foreign minister said his visit to the region was to facilitate dialogue, not to tackle a specific diplomatic problem. On Sunday (October 7), whilst in Damascus, Babacan assured Assad that Turkey would not let Israel use its airspace to strike Syria after the raid on September 6 heightened tension in the Middle East. Israeli media reported that Babacan demanded explanations from his Israeli counterpart Tzipi Livni regarding the aerial incident during a joint dinner in Jerusalem on Sunday. Diplomats said at least four Israeli planes flew in attack formation along the Syrian-Turkish border before striking deep into Syria on September 6th. Syria and Israel have provided little information on what happened, and what the target may have been. Babacan, a member of the Islamist-rooted AK party, repeated in Damascus Turkey's assertions that Ankara had no prior knowledge of the Israeli raid, which Assad said had targeted an unused building linked to the Syrian military. Some U.S. officials have linked the raid in Syria to apparent Israeli intelligence suspicions of secret nuclear development cooperation between Damascus and North Korea. Damascus and North Korea leaders have denied any nuclear cooperation.

ITN Source | October 9, 2007

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