Today's Zaman.com (Turquie) : "Abbas denies he took sides with Greek Cypriots"

Abbas denies he took sides with Greek Cypriots

President Abdullah Gül (R) and his Palestinian counterpart, Mahmoud Abbas, shake hands before talks at the Çankaya Presidential Palace in Ankara.

Palestinian leader Mahmoud Abbas firmly denied the claims that he backed the Greek Cypriots in their dispute with Turkey at a joint press conference with Turkish President Abdullah Gül on Friday in Ankara. “Such a thing did not happen. 

The reports are groundless and fabricated,” said Abbas, who was in Ankara on a two-day visit for talks with Turkish leaders and to attend an inauguration ceremony for the new Palestinian Embassy in Turkey.

Turkish media, citing news reports by Greek Cypriot media, stated last week that Abbas and Greek Cypriot leader Dimitris Christofias mutually pledged support for each other's positions concerning international issues faced by their governments during the Abbas' visit. Greek Cyprus says Turkey occupies part of its territory, while Ankara says its troops were dispatched to the island in 1974 to protect Cyprus' Turkish population following a coup on the island by supporters of unification with Greece.

The troops are stationed in the Turkish Republic of Northern Cyprus (KKTC), not recognized by the Greek Cypriot administration or rest of the world as an independent state.

“We, as the leaders, get used to being subject to slanders,” Abbas complained and added that recently there were some other allegations about him.

Fatah Secretary General Faruq Kaddumi last week in a press conference in Jordan claimed that late Palestinian Leader Yaser Arafat was killed by Abbas in a conspiracy with the involvement of Israel and the CIA.

Kaddumi disclosed that Arafat had confided to him the transcript of a secret meeting involving Abbas and US intelligence officials, as well as former Israeli Prime Minister Ariel Sharon. The meeting allegedly took place on March 22, 2004.

“This document is the production of an Israeli internet site,” Abbas said and recalled another rumor about himself: “There were claims that I had shouted at [Egyptian] President Mubarak. This is a lie, too,” he underlined.

Gül and Abbas said they exchanged views about the recent developments in the Middle East and discussed ways to enhance bilateral relations.

Abbas thanked the Turkish side for its support for the Palestine cause and also for their financial help for the new embassy building: “I hope we can inaugurate the Turkish Embassy to Palestine in East Jerusalem after the establishment of our state,” Abbas said. Gül and Abbas later inaugurated the new building in Ankara.

Gül: Stop settlements

Gül said for his part that Turkey backed the creation of an independent Palestinian state with East Jerusalem as its capital and called on Israel to stop establishment of new Jewish settelements......

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http://www.todayzaman.com/tz-web/news-181272-abbas-.........