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May 6, 2005/Nisan 27 5765, Volume 57, No. 36
Turkish prime minister follows Putin to Jerusalem
LESLIE SUSSER
Jewish Telegraphic Agency
JERUSALEM - On their recent groundbreaking visits to Jerusalem, Russian President Vladimir Putin and Turkish Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan both offered their countries' services as "honest brokers" in peace negotiations between Israel and the Palestinians.
Pundits suggested that neither leader was entirely sincere and primarily sought an international achievement to prop up his falling popularity at home. In any case, Israel and the United States are likely to continue to maintain an American monopoly on the nuts and bolts of Middle East peacemaking.
Still, analysts say, the talk of Turkish and especially Russian mediation could have a significant outcome. It could spur President Bush into appointing a high-ranking Middle Eastern peace envoy. A number of former U.S. officials, including a former ambassador to Israel, Martin Indyk, insist a dedicated envoy is vital if there is to be real progress on the Israeli-Palestinian track.
Israel has a major strategic interest in curbing Russian sales of arms and technology to potential enemies like Syria and Iran; it has a flourishing military relationship with Turkey; and in another major strategic departure, it wants to import natural gas from Russia through Turkey via a still-to-be-laid underwater gas pipeline.
Russian steps to resume arms sales to such former Arab clients as Syria and the Palestinians worry Israel. To win Israeli confidence, Putin promised that as long as he is president, Russia would do nothing to harm Israel.
As for the Turks, Alon Liel, a former director general of the Israeli Foreign Ministry who served as a diplomat in Ankara, says he's convinced they can play a constructive role on both the Palestinian and Syrian tracks. Erdogan, a devout Muslim, says he knows Palestinian Authority President Mahmoud Abbas well and can be helpful.
For now, Israeli Prime Minister Ariel Sharon isn't interested in that kind of Turkish help. Instead, he suggested that Erdogan help the Palestinians rebuild their economy, especially in the fields of housing, water and tourism.
Where both Putin and Erdogan did make progress was on the issue of global terrorism. Sharon agreed to set up direct hotlines to Putin's and Erdogan's offices for the speedy exchange of intelligence information. Israel now has such arrangements only with the United States and Britain.
In an ideal world, Israel would like to see the United States as its main strategic partner, the European Union as its major trading partner, Russia as a truly neutral player and Turkey as a partner in a wider regional alliance.
In a slow, accretive way, the visits of Putin and Erdogan may have helped bring those goals a little closer.
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