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Javier Solana: Turkey may play an important role in preventing tragedies in Gaza

08 January 2009 17:23 (UTC +04:00)

Baku â€“ APA. EU High Representative for Common Foreign and Security Policy Javier Solana met with Turkish President Abdullah Gul and Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan. APA reports quoting Turkish media that Prime Minister received Javier Solana first. Following 45-minute meeting, President Gul received Solana. Javier Solana told the press conference after the meetings that they had discussed the situation in Gaza. Solana said they wanted ceasefire to be declared in Gaza as soon as possible and underlined that the aim of his visit to Ankara was to seek ways to prevent dramatic crisis in the Near East.
â€œWe had effective meetings in Ankara. Turkey may play an important role in preventing tragedies in Gaza,â€ he said.

Javier Solana noted that the plan proposed by Egyptian and French Presidents on the settlement of the conflict was accepted by a number states, including Israel, and said there was a hope that ceasefire would be reached as soon as possible. EU representative said the positions of the EU and Turkey coincided on the solution to Gaza problem and added that everybody was trying to achieve ceasefire.

Javier Solana appreciated Turkeyâ€™s efforts to solve Gaza problem and expressed his gratitude to official Ankara for this.