Establishing Palestinian state vital for viable peace in Mideast: Erdogan

Turkish Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan said on Friday that the establishment of a Palestinian state was the most crucial element of achieving the Middle East peace.

Erdogan made the remarks at a press conference after meeting with visiting Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas in the Turkish capital of Ankara, saying that "regaining of peace and stability in the Middle East is only possible with a fair and lasting settlement of the Israeli-Palestinian issue, which is the core for most of the issues in the region."

"The founding of an independent and viable Palestinian state with East Jerusalem as its capital is the basic condition for the solution to the issue," said Erdogan.

Erdogan said Turkey welcomed the signing of an reconciliation deal between Fatah and Hamas, calling on the international community to "assume an impartial stance" with a view to support the Palestinian reconciliation.

The prime minister also expressed that his country would also support the Palestinians' bid for membership in the United Nations.

Source: Xinhua

	Weekly review