New Turkish foreign ministry team to improve relations with Arab states

The Turkish daily "Daily news" on Wednesday said that the Turkish Foreign Ministry is working hard to develop a new Turkish policy towards the Middle East so as to improve relations with neighboring states and Arab nations.

The paper quoted a Turkish governmental source as saying while commenting on the new initiative to improve relations with Syria, that Turkey should establish a dialogue with Syria, especially at a time when unpredictable developments are taking place in northern Iraq. The source declined to talk about these unexpected developments.

The paper said Syria on Monday welcomed good relations with Turkey, as a senior Syrian official said Syria has been calling for good relations with Turkey as an Islamic state, and that Syria believes that Turkey's relations with Israel contradicts Turkey's affiliation to the Islamic world.

The paper said Syrian Vice President Abdul Halim Khaddam criticized in a statement to the newly published (Tishreen weekly ) Turkish-Israeli relations and expressed hope that Turkish leaders will quickly realize the consequences of relations between Ankara and Israel.