Erdogan: "Mideast peace talks should include all palestinian groups"

Hamas, the party that won the elections in Gaza, should be invited to the table for Mideast peace talks, said Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan yesterday. He made the remarks at a panel on Gaza at the World Economic Forum in Davos, Switzerland alongside UN Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon, Israeli President Shimon Peres, and Arab League Secretary General Amr Moussa. Saying that peace negotiations with only one Palestinian side is fruitless, Erdogan told the panel, "Nothing can be achieved by only taking into consideration Fatah and leaving others out of the process." Touching on the humanitarian plight of the Gazans due to the recent Israeli attacks, Erdogan said, "It makes no difference to me when a person is facing cruelty whether he is Christian, Jew, or Muslim. What's important for me is humanity." He added, "Billions of dollars couldn't make up for the losses in Gaza. Gaza has collapsed on top of its people, who have no way to develop economically." Peace in the Middle East is a must for global peace, Erdogan also said. For his part, Peres gave a spirited defense of his country's attacks on Gaza, with a raised voice and pointed finger, and asked what Erdogan would do if Turkey were in Israel's shoes. When Erdogan was trying to respond, the moderator cut him off and ended the discussion. "I don't think I will come back to Davos, because you don't let me speak," the premier protested, standing up and walking out of the panel. Later, at a joint press conference with Forum Chairman Claus Schwab, Erdogan explained that he had been upset with both the moderator of the debate and Peres' manner. "My reaction was directed at the moderator," he said. "I think that if we have moderation like this, we won't really get out of Davos what we all come here to get out of Davos, and it will cast a shadow over efforts to reach peace." He added, "President Peres was speaking to the prime minister of Turkey – I am not just some leader of some group or tribe, so he should have addressed me accordingly." In an earlier panel discussion, Erdogan had said, "We took a unique stance on the Gaza conflict. I am a prime minister who declared anti-Semitism a crime against humanity. Today I continue to say the same thing. But I condemned the Israeli government for what they did in Gaza. I also condemned the international community's lack of sympathy for Gaza. All countries took immediate action during the (last year's) Georgian conflict. But they failed to intervene in Gaza, and instead waited for nearly three weeks. More than 1,200 civilians died and about 5,000 were injured. Now a truce has been declared. We hope that the parties will keep it in an effort to ensure peace in the Middle East." He also said Turkey is determined to contribute to peace in the region. Erdogan told a press conference after his arrival in Istanbul that the Israeli president called him and said, "He is very sorry for this incident." Peres also said that Turkish-Israeli bilateral relations should continue as in previous years.