Al-Assad communicates with Mubarak on the Syrian-Turkish agreement

Egyptian President Hosni Mubarak on Thursday received Syrian Foreign Minister Farouk al-Sharaa who conveyed to Mubarak a message from President Hafez al-Assad concerning what have been achieved between the Syrian and Turkish sides in the Adana meeting concerning the security issue.

In a press conference he held with his Egyptian counterpart, Amr Moussa, following the meeting with President Mubarak, al-Sharaa expressed hope that the "frank and open agreement reached by the two sides would open the door before settling all pending issues between the two countries."

The Syrian Foreign Minister added, "We, from our side, will follow up the implementation of what had been agreed upon in the recent meeting." He called on Turkey to "follow up and abide by" what had been agreed upon as well.

Replying to a question on whether the agreement is partial or comprehensive for all problems pending between the two countries, al-Sharaa said: "This is a security agreement between two security committees in the two countries. It, in effect, is a return to the security committee meeting which was halted by the Turkish side three years ago."

He added: "We had repeatedly asked not to suspend the committee meetings, but the Turkish side was persistent on obstructing its meetings." Al-Sharaa explained that in the framework of current efforts, "We hope to settle all suspended issues between the two countries."

On whether the recent agreement is viewed as a means to calm down the situation between Syria and Turkey, al-Sharaa said: "We, in Syria started in dealing with the crisis from a strategic vision because we do not want Turkey to become the enemy of the Arabs." He continued: "If there were those who poured oil on the fire either in Turkey or outside it, we had never been with this inclination. On the contrary, we called for settling any pending problem and by political and diplomatic means away from threats and provocation. Actually matters return to what had been before through political and diplomatic dialogue."

Al-Sharaa went on: "The second point is in that words and phrases used by some Turkish media to explain what had been reached were not precise nor objective. And as Mr. Amr Moussa said, this agreement is balanced and meets the demands of the two sides."

Al-Sharaa said there will be no security in Turkey at the expense of security in Syria, "This is what is mentioned in the agreement as reciprocal treatment."

On the forthcoming steps needed to be taken by the Arab side to alienate Turkey from its military alliance with Israel, which threatens the region, al-Sharaa added, "The Israeli dimension in this crisis should be realized first by the Turkish people themselves."

For his part, Egyptian Foreign Minister Amr Moussa said that al-Sharaa's talks with President Mubarak dealt with the positive recent developments between Syria and Turkey to defuse the crisis between the two sides.

Moussa added that agreement reached by the two sides is "balanced and meets the desire of the two sides to eliminate the crisis and build larger and more comprehensive relations." The Egyptian FM reiterated the pan-Arab interest in preserving positive relations with Turkey.

Moussa confirmed that Egypt will pursue its efforts and is completely ready to perform any role in achieving the best position for the region, specifically concerning Turkey and its relations with the Arab states.

Earlier in the day, al-Sharaa arrived in Cairo in a short visit to Egypt. In an arrival statement at Cairo Airport he thanked Egypt's president, government and people for the efforts exerted to defuse the crisis between Syria and Turkey.