DAMASCUS, Dec 18 (NNN-KUNA):- Turkish Prime Minster Recep Tayyip Erdogan affirmed on Thursday that international relations are not established on grounds of hatred and permenant hostility.

States that accept this basic concept should give up these hostile acts, therefore, Turkey is not and will not shut the doors for establishing good ties with any country, including Israel, Erdogan added at a news conference.

Erdogan said, "We cannot have positive relations with Israel in light of the practices against the Palestinian people and keeping the siege on Gaza.."

He urged Tel Aviv to reconsider its current policy and abandon this position in addition to lifting the siege on the people of Gaza, stressing that his country's position toward Israel is initialy directed toward its policies.

On cancelling Israel's participation in "Anatolian Eagle" military exercises, due jointly with Turkish military forces, Erdogan said that his country could not allow Israeli air force carry out maneuvers across the Turkish airspace while keeping the blockade on Gaza.

Moreover, Turkey, he added, reject Israel's settlement policies in the West Bank and Jerusalem, in particular.

On the Turkish mediation efforts between Fatah and Hamas, Erdogan said, "we have often stressed the need to resolve Palestinian-Palestinian differences soon in order for Palestinians to unite to confront the Israeli occupation, and we are working on this issue with our Arab brothers to achieve such goal."

Regarding the peace option in the region, Erdogan said that US President Barak Obama seeks to take advantage of Turkey's status and its relations in the region, especially with Syria.

He described Obama's position towards the peace process as "positive", adding that the US President asked Ankara to contribute to it, noting that Turkey will put all possible resources at the disposal of the peace process.

The Middle East can no longer tolerate any option other than peace, Erdogan emphasised, also stressing that the peoples of Afghanistan, Iraq, and Palestine cannot bear more problems.
Furthermore, Erdogan commented on the Israeli request to France to play a role in the peace process, reportedly for sake of undermining Turkish mediation efforts among the warring parties of the protracted regional struggle, he indicated that he was surprised by such a stand by Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu.

Erdogan has called on Israel to reconsider its policy toward the peace option.

He indicated that the Turkey-mediated indirect negotiations between Syria and Israel had reached "final touches" but these efforts were overshadowed with Israel's aggression on Gaza Strip.

-NNN-KUNA