Hurriyet Daily News Online
Oluşturulma Tarihi: Şubat 03, 2009 15:31
The U.S. expressed its hopes to cut a truce in the Middle East and the special representative of the new president might pay another visit to the region, the U.S. ambassador to Ankara said Tuesday.
"(U.S. President Barack Obama's Special Envoy for the Middle East George) Mitchell has returned (to Washington) today. We will review things he learned during his tour in the region. After that he might pay another visit to the region. But at the moment I don't have further information," U.S. Ambassador James Jeffrey told reporters in Ankara.
Mitchell had paid a visit to the Middle East including Egypt, Israel, Jordan and Saudi Arabia, as well as the West Bank, in a bid to hold talks with officials regarding a solution of the conflict. He was expected to pay a visit to Turkey, which was postponed due to technical problems.
"There is hope. Mitchell paid a visit to the region. This is a huge and important issue, and we are holding contacts with Turkey as well as the others countries in the region," Jeffrey added.
The newly appointed U.S. ambassador met with Turkish Prime Minister Tayyip Erdogan on Tuesday. Jeffrey did not give details of the meeting but said peace efforts in the Middle East were among the topics discussed in the meeting.
Jeffrey said the U.S. and Turkey have very good relations and will continue to work closely. The new ambassador was asked about recent concerns in Turkey that the Jewish lobby might withdraw its support to Turkey if a new legislation is pushed through U.S. Congress to recognize the Armenian claims regarding the 1915 incidents.
"We have very good relations, and both the U.S. and Turkey support and improve these ties. From time to time we may have such a problem, but we have always worked together and will continue to do so," Jeffrey responded.
