Turkey’s top diplomat lashed out atIsrael yesterday over its uncompromising stance on core issues of the Palestinian-Israeli conflict.
“Enough is enough. Longer the Palestinian-Israeli issue remained unresolved, greater the price peoples of the region includingTurkey pay. Israelis should decide on they want,” Ahmet Davutoğlu told a meeting of Center for Strategic and International Studies (CSIS) in Washington.
Davutoğlu said Israel had failed to convey any positive messages either to the United States or to the region, but continued to build new settlements and making provocative statements.
“The existing status quo cannot live anymore. Palestinians deserve their own state. Let me say put it frankly: The U.S. veto on the recognition of Palestine was wrong as was the Russian veto on Syria,” Davutoğlu said, adding that Turkey would continue to support efforts for Palestine’s recognition.
“Israel has to come to the table without putting forward any preconditions like building new settlements. They have to decide whether they want a solution based on one state or two states. So we could get to learn who wants peace and who doesn’t,” Davutoglu said.
Davutoğlu said popular uprisings in Arab countries had created “a new Middle East,” adding that Palestine was the core issue underlying all the problems in the region.
“There has to be a new approach, a fresh initiative to resolve this problem in this new era,” Davutoğlu said. “I hope everyone will understand the new logic of the new era and act properly in line with a solution based on two states.”
Davutoğlu said Turkey had paid sincere efforts together with Egypt to facilitate a national reconciliation in Palestine between Hamas and Al Fatah, adding that the agreement between two Palestinian groups needed to be supported
