Greek-Turkish effort to see Yasser Arafat
Foreign Minister George Papandreou and his Turkish counterpart Ismail Cem are prepared to visit Israel and the Palestinian territories together if they are given assurances that they will be able to meet with Yasser Arafat, Greek and Turkish officials said yesterday. Meanwhile, senior Greek officials visited Iran and Israel yesterday to discuss the Middle East crisis. «We are ready to go to Israel at any moment to visit Yasser Arafat,» said Papandreou, who was on an official visit to Beijing. He added that the visit would take place as soon as it was arranged with the Israeli authorities. Government spokesman Christos Protopappas said that the two ministers planned to visit the troubled region next week. «The foreign ministers are planning to meet with Israeli Prime Minister Ariel Sharon and Palestinian leader Yasser Arafat, with the aim of contributing toward finding a solution toward peace and security in the region,» Protopappas said. Turkey’s Anatolia news agency said that Cem had raised the idea during a telephone conversation when Papandreou was on a visit to Cairo last week. Israeli Foreign Minister Shimon Peres spoke with Cem and Papandreou on Monday and said a decision on the visit would come only after US Secretary of State Colin Powell’s visit this weekend, according to Yoram Dori, an adviser to Peres. Arafat has been besieged and isolated in his Ramallah headquarters since last Friday. In a report from Ankara, the Agence France-Presse quoted an unnamed Turkish government official as saying Papandreou and Cem planned the joint visit in order to show by example that reconciliation is possible among traditional foes. «Cem said he would not go if they are not allowed to meet with Arafat,» the official said. Thanks mainly to the friendship between Papandreou and Cem, senior diplomats of the two countries are holding exploratory talks aimed at the eventual resolution of long-standing disputes. Deputy Foreign Minister Andreas Loverdos arrived in Iran yesterday for two days of talks on the Middle East crisis. Alex Rondos, a close aide of Papandreou, arrived in Jerusalem on Monday and was due to prepare the delivery of aid worth 568,000 euros to the Palestinian Authority.
