Turkish Prime Minister arrives in Israel

Turkey's Prime Minister Masoud Yilmaz arrived in Israel yesterday before noon and immediately held a private meeting with the Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu.

Following the meeting, Netanyahu praised relations between Israel and Turkey.

For his part, Yilmaz reiterated, "Military cooperation between Israel and Turkey is not directed against a third party." He added that his country seeks to establish good neighborliness relations with all peoples of the region.

The Turkish Premier expressed hope that the chance would not be lost to establish peace and stressed the need to exert all possible efforts to give the Middle East peace process a push forward.

According to Israeli radio, Yilmaz was officially received at the office of the Israeli Premier in occupied Jerusalem. Afterward, Yilmaz visited the Yad Vashim establishment which memorializes the Nazi holocaust of the Jews.

Tomorrow, Yilmaz will meet with Israeli President Ezer Weizman and chairman of the Labor Party Ehud Barak.

Later he will meet with Palestinian President Yasser Arafat.