Gul visits Egypt for summit on Gaza

President Abdullah Gul, accompanied by Foreign Minister Ali Babacan, yesterday paid a one-day visit to Sharm-El Sheikh, Egypt, where he attended a summit on Gaza. Other leaders at the summit included Egyptian President Hosni Mubarak, French President Nicolas Sarkozy, UN Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon, Arab League Secretary-General Amr Moussa, Jordan's King Abdullah, British Prime Minister Gordon Brown, German Chancellor Angela Merkel, Spanish Prime Minister Jose Luis Zapatero, Italian Prime Minister Silvio Berlusconi, and Czech Republic Prime Minister Mirek Topolanek. Afterwards, Gul told a joint press conference that a consensus government should be set up in Palestine under the leadership of Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas to help promote a permanent solution in the region. In related news, Gul is set to visit Saudi Arabia next month at the invitation of King Abdullah bin Abdalaziz al Saud. Gul's itinerary, including Riyadh and Jeddah, will reportedly be intense.