Gul receives Abbas at Cankaya presidential palace

Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas, who is currently in Turkey as part of first trip abroad following the approval of his country's non-member observer state status by the UN General Assembly, was received by President Abdullah Gul yesterday at the Cankaya Palace, where they held a tete-a-tete meeting and followed by talks between the delegations and a joint press conference held by the two leaders. Delivering a speech in the press conference, Gul noted that Israel should realize that it is being isolated in the international arena, saying, "I hope the very few countries, which voted against Palestine in her bid to gain non-member observer state status in the UN, realize that they cannot reverse the course of history and review their decision on the issue." Stating that everyone wishes for the establishment of peace and prosperity in Palestine, but Israel is the country which should learn from this process and which must realize that it is nothing but a burden for the countries that corroborate it. "We vehemently decry Israel's decision to build new settlements in the West Bank! We also regard this move to be very dangerous as it is trying to separate the Palestinians in the West Bank. Israel must retreat to the pre- 1967 borders and it must accept an atmosphere of security in which East Jerusalem is the capital of Palestine and the two states can live side by side in peace. Its efforts to the contrary will go against itself in the medium and long term," Gul added. For his part, Abbas extended his thanks to Gul for Turkey's support for his country and reiterated that the historic tyranny committed against Palestine must be ceased. "It is high time Israel stopped the invasion of the State of Palestine, whose capital is East Jerusalem. We are extending our hands in peace from Turkey," Abbas noted. As part of his visit, Abbas also met with Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan at his office.