Turkish President Gul meets with Palestinian counterpart

June 8th, 2010 - 12:10 am ICT by BNO News  

ISTANBUL, TURKEY (BNOP NEWS) – Turkish President Abdullah Gül met on Monday with Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas prior to the beginning of the Conference on Interaction and Confidence-Building Measures’ (CICA) 3rd summit of Heads of State and Governments in Istanbul, Gül’s office said.

The meeting took place at Ciragan Palace in Istanbul, the Turkish capital. Before the two leaders met, Turkish Foreign Minister Ahmet Davotoglu and his Palestinian counterpart Riyad al-Maliki signed an agreement on establishing a joint committee.

Abbas offered his condolences to Gül and the people of Turkey for the loss of 9 pro-Palestinian activists during the Israeli Navy clash with a Gaza-bound ship. The President of Palestine also thanked Turkey for its ‘great efforts’ towards the ending of the Israeli blockade which affects not only Gaza but the West Bank too, he said.

“The Israeli raid on the Turkish flotilla, the Mavi Marmara, was a crime due to the fact that it had taken place in international waters and civilians had been killed during the assault,” Abbas declared.

The two presidents agreed that national unity should be reached in Palestine.

Gül praised the intervention of the United Nations by launching an independent investigation in order to reveal all the facts. On Monday, President Gül also met with President Haydar Aliyev, his counterpart from Azerbaijan.

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