Hurriyet DN Online with wires
Oluşturulma Tarihi: Mart 02, 2009 09:50
Turkey plans to donate $50 million additional assistance to Gaza, Turkish Foreign Minister Ali Babacan told Monday at an international conference in Egypt.International donors' meeting pledged more than $3 billion dollars help rebuild war-battered Gaza. (UPDATED)
Turkey, so far, collected $43 million of aid assistance for Gaza through state and private institutions, Babacan told the international donors' conference held for Gaza in the Egyptian coastal resort of Sharm El-Sheikh.
"Recently, we have witnessed a huge humanity tragedy in Gaza. The border gates should be opened and the siege should end. It is time to heal the wounds," he was quoted by the Anatolian Agency as saying.
Babacan said Turkey supported Egypt's contributions for peace and stability in the region, adding a peace process, which was based on two states living side by side and recognizing the presence of each other within the scope of resolutions of the U.N. Security Council, should be put into practice again to solve the Palestinian problem.
"Consensus among Palestinian groups is a priority. We call Palestinian groups to end disagreements among themselves. We support the consensus which was settled among them last week," the Turkish foreign minister said.
MORE THAN $3.2 BLN PLEDGED
International donors' meeting to help rebuild war-battered Gaza have pledged more than three billion dollars and called for urgent action to revive peace talks.
US Secretary of State Hillary Clinton, on her first visit to the region as America’s top diplomat, said the economic aid to the Palestinians must go hand-in-hand with efforts to reach a comprehensive peace deal with Israel.
"Our response to today’s crisis in Gaza cannot be separated from our broader efforts to achieve a comprehensive peace," Clinton was quoted by the AFP as telling the conference in the Red Sea resort of Sharm El-Sheikh.
Pledges ahead of the conference from the United States, the European Union and the oil-rich Gulf monarchies amount to more than three billion dollars.
Donors insist the money must be channeled through the Western-backed Palestinian Authority of president Mahmud Abbas and must not go to Gaza’s Islamist rulers Hamas, boycotted as a terrorist group by Israel and the West.
But foreign leaders called on the rival Palestinian factions to unite to help pave the way for peace and for a lifting of the Israeli blockade that has stopped all but urgent humanitarian aid reaching Gaza.
The Palestinian Authority is seeking 2.8 billion dollars from the 70-odd countries and donor groups gathered in Sharm six weeks after the guns fell largely silent around Gaza.
More than 1,300 Palestinians were killed in the three-week Israeli offensive which also left large swathes of Gaza in ruins, destroying homes, schools and other infrastructure.
The U.S. administration has pledged 900 million dollars, which Clinton said must not end up in the "wrong hands."
The European Union said it will donate 554 million dollars while the six-member Gulf Cooperation Council have pledged 1.65 billion dollars.
TURKISH FM MEETS ABBAS
Babacan earlier in the day met Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas on the sidelines of the conference. Babacan told Abbas the Arabic world must act as a whole in order to resolve the Palestinian issue.
Abbas was reminded of the importance Turkey attaches to the reconstruction of Gaza and of the various campaigns held in the country in support of Gaza, Burak Ozugergin, spokesman of the Turkish Foreign Ministry told the Anatolian Agency."We are in touch with all groups. We support Egypt's efforts in eradicating the differences between Palestinian groups. Resolving the Palestinian issue requires Arab countries to act as one," Babacan was quoted by Ozugergin as telling Abbas.
Babacan said Turkey supports all efforts that would promote the peace process in the region.
Abbas said "Turkey is doing the right thing" and added that Turkey has contributed not only to the Palestinians, but the whole population of the region.
"We are working on a 'Road Map' and a solution based on two states," Abbas told Babacan in their meeting, adding the Palestinians want an end to the siege imposed on their territory.
Following the conference, Babacan is expected to hold several bilateral meetings and then return to Turkey in the evening.
