Turkish President Ahmet Necdet Sezer has invited his Egyptian counterpart, Hosni Mubarak, to visit Ankara for a working visit in the near future.
Sezer voiced support on Friday for Egypt's proposal for a UN-sponsored international conference on terrorism following a telephone conversation with Mubarak, reported the Cairo-based Al Ahram daily.
"Mr. Sezer told Mr. Mubarak that we see his proposal as a very significant step and that we support it," presidential spokesman Tacan Ildem said as he briefed reporters about the conversation, which took place late on Thursday.
Sezer also stressed that a settlement to the Israeli-Palestinian conflict had become even more significant following the terrorist attacks in the United States on September 11.
"Mr. Mubarak expressed appreciation for Turkey's efforts aimed at advancing the Middle East peace process and said they expected their continuation," Ildem said.
"And Mr. Sezer invited Mr. Mubarak to Turkey for a working visit in the near future," he added.
Mubarak, whose country emerged from a spiral of domestic upheaval in the late 1990s, has been trying for more than a decade to persuade the world community to organize an international conference on terrorism.
Since the attacks in the United States, he has renewed the appeal, saying that a world anti-terrorism coalition demanded by Washington would only divide the international community.
Sezer noted that a single country could not combat terrorism without the help of other countries, saying that there had to be a differentiation between fighting terrorism and particular religions or geographical locations – Albawaba.com
© 2001 Al Bawaba (www.albawaba.com)
