Peres to visit Turkey on April 9

An Israeli source in Ankara said on Wednesday that the Israeli foreign minister Shimon Peres will pay his first official visit to Turkey on April 9 and 10 and the visit will deal with concentrate on the development of bilateral relations and the situation in the Middle East.

An Israeli diplomat explained that Peres's first visit to Ankara of a member in the government of the prime minister Ariel Sharon will be an occasion to assure to the Turkish officials that Israel is " persistent to proceed into the peace process in case violence is halted in the Middle East."

The Israeli diplomat added that Peres will stress that the chairman of the Palestinian Authority Yasser Arafat does not make enough efforts to put an and to the " wave of terrorism in Israel."

The diplomat added that the question of Israel's buying waters from Turkey will be also discussed during the meeting.