by Zeynep Gurcanli
Oluşturulma Tarihi: Şubat 26, 2009 15:46
Turkey steps up diplomatic efforts to restore its strained ties with Israel and to reduce tension in the Middle East, as a series of diplomatic contacts is set to start involving Turkey, Iran, Israel and the United States.
Turkish President Abdullah Gul is expected to visit Iran on March 10, the Anatolian Agency reported. He will join the presidents of Pakistan, Afghanistan, Azerbaijan, Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Turkmenistan, Uzbekistan ve Tajikistan attending the Economic Cooperation Organization (ECO) summit to be held in Tehran.
Gul is also planning to pay an official visit to Israel in the coming months to ease the strained relations with the Jewish state.
The Turkish president, who postponed a planned regional visit in January that included Israel because of an ear ailment, is expected to be in Israel during the second half of the year.
Gul aims to send the message that Turkey has good ties with every country in the region with his planned visits, analysts say.
Turkish officials have also intensified their contacts with the new U.S. administration recently.
U.S. Secretary of State Hillary Clinton is also expected to visit Turkey on March 7, although the date is yet to be confirmed.
Currently in Turkey, U.S. Special envoy George Mitchell held talks with Turkish officials, including Gul, Prime Minister Tayyip Erdogan and Ali Babacan on Wednesday and Thursday in Ankara.
Mithcell said after his meetings that Turkey can have a significant influence on U.S. efforts to reach a comprehensive peace in the Middle East.
Turkey has been playing a mediation role as part of its efforts to resolve various conflicts in the Middle East, including Syria-Israel, Israel-Palestine, as well as the issues that exist between the Palestinian fractions. Recently Turkey said Iran had sought Ankara's help to resolve the conflicting issues with the United States.
Turkey’s mediation efforts in the region were suspended at the start of Israel's Gaza operations in late December, at which time the country had been hosting indirect talks between Israel and Syria.
Ankara's harsh criticism against Israel’s military operations and the angry exchange of words between Erdogan and Israeli President Shimon Peres have strained ties between the two traditional and historic regional allies.
