Diplomatic Contacts
©GPO/Moshe Milner
FM Silvan Shalom lays a wreath in memory of the victims at the Neve Shalom Synagogue in Instanbul
(Nov 16, 2003)
Posted on 11/16/2003 11:31:44 AM PST by anotherview
©GPO/Moshe MilnerDiplomatic Contacts
FM Silvan Shalom lays a wreath in memory of the victims at the Neve Shalom Synagogue in Instanbul
(Nov 16, 2003)
Nov 16: FM Silvan Shalom arrived in Istanbul on Sunday morning to visit the scenes of Saturday's bomb attacks on two synagogues and to meet with his Turkish counterpart, Abdullah Gul and leaders of the Istanbul Jewish community. He will continue to Brussels and Vienna to meet with foreign ministers of the EU-member states to discuss anti-Semitism and recent events in Europe.
The site then links to this Ha'aretz article:
Last Update: 16/11/2003 16:24
Shalom says attacks prove terror is at work everywhere
By Haaretz Service
Foreign Minister Silvan Shalom arrived in Istanbul on Sunday morning to visit the scenes of Saturday's bomb attacks on two synagogues in the Turkish city in which 23 people were killed and hundreds injured.
Shalom met with leaders of the Jewish community, and was due to meet with his Turkish counterpart, Abdullah Gul.
Shalom spoke with Istanbul's chief rabbi, Isak Haleva, who was slightly wounded in the bombings and laid wreaths in the rubble outside the two synagogues.
Speaking at the start of his visit to Army Radio, Shalom said that in his telephone conversations with Turkish officials, he got the feeling that they had received an "unexpected knock, they did not believe that this could happen to them in Turkey."
Shalom added that this proves that "terror is at work everywhere, and not necessarily in one specific country or another ... I think that the operation here shows both Turkey and other countries in the world that there no place is immune to terrorism. This is not a localized problem for Israel; terror hits New York, Baghdad, Bali, Mombassa, Casablanca and any place where they think that there is perhaps a country with more developed values, values closer to democracy, close to the West. These same extremist groups take measures against such countries, even if they are Muslim or Arab."
The foreign minister said that the Turkish authorities believed that Al-Qaida was behind the bombings, though the matter had not yet been fully investigated. There are still a number of issues which must be examined, he said, pointing out that the final number of dead and injured was still unclear.
Shalom praised the close ties between Israel and Turkey, saying that recent visits by officials prove that the ties "are not only stable, but also very deep."
He said that his visit to Istanbul was to demonstrate show solidarity with "the Turkish people, the Turkish government and of course the Jewish community ... The message here is that we have a shared fate. We all suffer at the hands of the same, extreme groups who wish to hurt anyone who adopts values of democracy, freedom, equality and the rule of law."
He said that he would travel on to Brussels and Vienna to meet with foreign ministers of the EU-member states to discuss, among other things, anti-Semitism and recent events in Europe.
On Saturday, Shalom said that the attacks must be seen within the context of the recent spate of anti-Israel and anti-Jewish incitement in the Arab world, as well in light of the recent anti-Israel and anti-Semitic remarks heard in certain European cities in recent months.
"Today's terrorist attacks in Istanbul were targeted against Jews who came to pray in a synagogue, a place of worship, prayer and peace, as well as of brotherhood. These attacks were perpetrated against Turkey and the Turkish people, and constitute another link in the chain of global terrorism that has struck Mombasa, Bali, Saudi Arabia, and other targets," Shalom said in a statement.
Shalom also said Israel expects the world to exact justice. "Israel expects the entire international community to strongly condemn today's terrorist acts, to take every measure, and to use all means at its disposal to fight terrorism and to bring the perpetrators to justice."
Shalom extended his condolences to Turkey and the Turkish people, the Jewish community in Turkey, and the families of the killed, and sent his wishes for a speedy recovery to those injured in Saturday's terrorist attacks in Istanbul.
The Foreign Ministry also said it had offered aid to Turkey. The Jewish Agency sent a delegation to Istanbul on Saturday night to help the community. The delegation includes social workers and trauma experts.
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