Abbas: "Gul and Erdogan have helped us"

Speaking to the Star daily in Strasbourg, Palestinian leader Mahmoud Abbas said yesterday that Palestinian has been working closely with Turkey prior to its application to the UN and that both President Abdullah Gul and Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan have helped them in the process. Abbas also stressed the efforts exerted by Parliamentarians Assembly of Council of Europe (PACE) Chairman Mevlut Cavusoglu to ensure that Palestine is granted the "partner for democracy" status, saying that they are thankful to him. Touching upon Erdogan’s statement that he considered Israel as a threat to region, because it has atomic bombs, Abbas said, "We want the Middle East to be removed from atomic bombs to become a peaceful region. The atomic bombs not only in Israel, but also in the entire world should be removed." Abbas stated that he hoped that approach of the West and the EU towards Palestine would change positively, adding, "As part of this, our request for recognition isn’t an obstacle before our peace talks with Israel. While efforts for recognition are underway, we could continue to hold peace talks as well."