Turkey's FM sees Palestinian state to draw "final" Mideast borders

In a speech, titled "Security and Stability in the Middle East", and delivered at the 46th Munich Security Conference, Minister Davutoglu said that peace and stability have to be established in the Middle East.

We need a new vision in the Middle East, Davutoglu underlined.

The image of the Middle East must be changed. The region does not deserve the bad image it has when one looks at the region's historical and cultural past. Mutual respect must be established in the region. The region should no longer be a burden on the group of nations. The region must be turned into one that makes all winners, Davutoglu stressed.

There is a need for a reactive policy in the Middle East. We should not permit cases of crisis to be forgotten. A Palestinian child has the same value as an Israeli one, Davutoglu emphasized.

We must first of all recognize borders in the region. And, as such, we need to know where the borders exist. We are in favor of establishing a Palestinian state in the Middle East. Furthermore, the State of Israel must exist within secure boundaries and in security, Minister Davutoglu underlined.

We did criticize the attack on Gaza (last year) within this context. We do not want to see any country in the region possessing nuclear weapons, be it Israel or Iran. We are making serious efforts so that the number of nuclear weapons in the world go down, if not drop to zero completely, Davutoglu said.

/World Bulletin/