Israel's President calls on both countries to make better Mideast

Israeli President Peres steps up after Israel’s apology to Turkey over the Mavi Marmara raid, calling on both countries to make a better Mideast.

There is a brand-new world in the Middle East and both Israel and Turkey must aid the people of the region in realizing a fairer and freer future, Israeli President Shimon Peres has said following a thaw in relations between the two.

“Look, we live in the same world, the same age with the same priorities. There is a new world. We cannot approach the new world with an old mind,” Peres told daily Hürriyet in an interview in Jerusalem after Israel apologized to Turkey and agreed to pay compensation over the 2010 Mavi Marmara killings.

Asked if Israel’s apology meant a rapprochement, Peres said: “It is not a matter of rapprochement. It is more than that, we have to pave a better way for our children. … The Middle East is the home of many things: starvation, terror, bloodshed. … Turkey, like Israel, has to really try and enable the people of the Middle East to live fairly and freely in a better future.”

The president also underlined the centuries-old friendship between the two countries. “Turkey was the first to recognize Israel from the Muslim world. Since the 15th century, Turkey was a shelter for the Jewish people. I can think about 1,000 reasons why Turkey and Israel should be friends. There is an affinity in history; there is a closeness in geography.”

Peres also praised Israel’s resourcefulness. “For 10,000 years, we made our lives out of the land of agriculture. Now we live in an age of science; armies cannot conquer science. Police cannot arrest scientists. Borders cannot stop the spread of knowledge. It is a different world and anyone who doesn’t enter it will have to pay a cost. In Israel we don’t have land, water or natural resources. Now we have gas,” he said. “In simple terms Israel can make from one drop of water three drops of water. We are telling the countries across the Nile: Don’t go to war, there is no need for it.”


/HurriyetDailynews/