Gul warns of secret efforts to spread Islamophobia

On the second day of his official visit to Saudi Arabia, President Abdullah Gul yesterday addressed the Saudi Consultative Council, making him the first-ever foreign Muslim leader to do so. "Islamophobia has recently been spread secretly," said Gul. Stating that trying to link Islam and terrorism is a grave mistake, Gul added, "Both Saudi Arabia and Turkey try to promote peace and stability in the region." Touching on the Arab peace initiative to end the Arab-Israeli conflict, he said that the divide between Palestinians should be bridged. He also expressed support for Saudi King Abdullah's plan to bring together the conflicting Palestinian sides to make peace. "If promises had been kept and the Palestinians had embraced each other, the Palestinians would be better off, and recent developments would never have happened," he said. Calling the Palestinian divide the chief hurdle to an independent Palestinian state, he expressed his sorrow at the recent Israeli attacks in Gaza. Later, speaking to the Turkish-Saudi Business Council in Riyadh, Gul said that the Turkish banking system was well prepared for the global financial crisis. "You can trust in Turkish banks," he added. Afterwards, Gul met with Saudi Foreign Minister Prince Saud Al-Faisal. Gul also visited the King Saud University and the King Abdulaziz Science and Technology Center.