ISRAELS WARNS THE GAZA FLOTILLA MEDIA

Israel warns media against boarding Gaza flotilla
By JOSEF FEDERMAN, Associated Press – 12PM JUNE 26,11

JERUSALEM – Israel on Sunday threatened to ban international journalists for up to a decade if they join a flotilla planning to breach the Israeli blockade of the Gaza Strip.The warning reflected Israeli jitters about the international flotilla, which comes just over a year after a similar mission ended in the deaths of nine Turkish activists in clashes with Israeli naval commandos.Israel is eager to avoid a repeat of last year's raid, which drew heavy international condemnation and ultimately forced Israel to ease its blockade on Hamas-controlled Gaza. Israel says the blockade is needed to prevent Hamas from smuggling weapons into the territory.The Foreign Press Association, which represents hundreds of journalists working for international news organizations in Israel and the Palestinian territories, condemned the Israeli decision and urged the government to cancel the order.The government's threat to punish journalists covering the Gaza flotilla sends a chilling message to the international media and raises serious questions about Israel's commitment to freedom of the press,the FPA said in a statement. "Journalists covering a legitimate news event should be allowed to do their jobs without threats and intimidation.It remains unclear when the current flotilla will actually set sail, but organizers have hinted it could be as soon as this week.

Organizers have said 10 boats, including two cargo vessels carrying aid supplies, will participate in the flotilla and that hundreds, including activists, journalists, politicians, writers and religious figures, will be on board.About two dozen activist groups, many of them based in Europe, are organizing the flotilla. Among them is IHH, a Turkish Islamic charity that helped organize last year's flotilla and is outlawed in Israel.In a letter to foreign journalists, the Government Press Office's director, Oren Helman, called the flotilla a dangerous provocation that is being organized by western and Islamic extremist elements to aid Hamas.I would like to make it clear to you and to the media that you represent, that participation in the flotilla is an intentional violation of Israeli law and is liable to lead to participants being denied entry into the State of Israel for 10 years, to the impoundment of their equipment and to additional sanctions,Helman said.
The letter, he added, was reviewed and approved by Israel's attorney general.
Organizers of the flotilla say the mission is necessary to draw attention to the plight of Gaza's 1.6 million residents. The Israeli blockade has caused heavy damage to Gaza's economy: Unemployment is estimated at close to 50 percent, and the territory still suffers from a shortage of badly needed construction materials.Israel says there is no humanitarian crisis and says the flotilla is little more than a provocation aimed at stirring up trouble.Israel has long had a strained relationship with the international media. During an Israeli military offensive in the Gaza Strip 2 1/2 years ago, Israeli-based journalists were prevented from entering the territory, forcing the Supreme Court to order the army to allow reporters in.Israel imposed a land and naval blockade of Gaza after Hamas, an Iran-backed group that has killed hundreds of Israelis in suicide bombings and other attacks, took control of the coastal strip. Israel withdrew its settlers and military from Gaza in 2005.The international uproar over last year's deadly flotilla raid forced Israel to greatly ease the land embargo, but the naval blockade remains intact.Israel has already said it will block the flotilla this time. Naval officials say they will use different tactics in hopes of avoiding bloodshed.Federman can be reached at http://www.twitter.com/joseffederman.

Israel begins removing part of West Bank barrier
By ARON HELLER, Associated Press – JUNE 26,11

NAALIN CROSSING, West Bank – Israel on Sunday began tearing down a section of its contentious West Bank separation barrier near a village that has come to symbolize Palestinian opposition to the enclosure, the military said.The rerouting marked a major victory for the residents of Bilin and the international groups that have backed their struggle. But they said it fell short of their demands to remove the structure from the village altogether and vowed to continue with their weekly protests.The dismantling of the section near the village of Bilin comes four years after Israel's Supreme Court ordered it torn down, rejecting the military's argument that the route was necessary to secure the nearby Modiin Illit settlement.Col. Saar Tsur, the regional brigade commander, said the military has begun taking apart a two mile (3.2 kilometer)-stretch of the barrier and has replaced it with a 1.6 mile-long (2.7 kilometer) wall adjacent to the settlement. He said the new route would give the military less response time in case of a potential infiltration.This is a new threat but we can handle it, he said, adding that the work would be done by the end of the week.Bilin lost half its land to the barrier, and years of weekly protests there have frequently evolved into clashes between activists and Israeli troops.

Israel began building the barrier in late 2002 to keep out Palestinian attackers amid a wave of suicide bombers targeting its cities. It says the structure is needed to keep militants from reaching Israeli population centers.But the barrier juts into the West Bank, and critics say the route is designed to grab land that Palestinians want for a state. The barrier, when completed, is projected to swallow some 6 to 8 percent of the West Bank.Tsur said the new route will put some 140 acres (55 hectares) back in Palestinian hands. He said the total cost of the project is $9 million.The protests have become a ritual of sorts each Friday, making the once out-of-the-way farming village a fashionable cause among activists. Nobel Peace Prize laureates Jimmy Carter and Desmond Tutu are among the notables who have participated. Naalin started similar marches three years ago.The Bilin protests, attended by villagers as well as Israeli and international activists, usually involve a mix of marching, chanting and throwing rocks at Israeli troops. Two Palestinians, and five in the nearby village of Naalin, have died and hundreds others have been wounded since the protests began in 2005.One Bilin demonstrator was hit in the chest with a tear gas canister and another woman died after she inhaled tear gas. Palestinians said she had a pre-existing medical condition that was exacerbated by the acrid fumes.In March 2009, 38-year-old Tristan Anderson of Oakland, Calif., was badly wounded after he was hit in the head with a tear gas canister during a West Bank protest. Anderson lost his right eye and suffered brain damage.

Dozens of Israeli troops and police also have been injured, including one who lost an eye.Tsur, the military commander, called the protests acts of violence, and said he doubted they would cease even after Israel rerouted the barrier's course because there was big money involved in backing the protesters.Indeed, Bilin activists said the move would not influence their opposition.We are going to continue until we get all our rights. This barrier isn't for security. It's to steal land and build settlements,said Rani Burnat, a 30-year-old resident paralyzed in a separate demonstration 10 years ago.While activists say the Israeli move falls short for their goals, they insist it only happened because of their stubborn demonstrations.We showed that we could put facts on the ground,said Mohammed Khatib of Bilin.

Gaza-bound flotilla set to leave Greece
by Helene Colliopoulou – JUNE 26,11

ATHENS (AFP) – Hundreds of activists are preparing to board aid ships bound for Gaza this week in defiance of an Israeli blockade and UN warnings and in spite of the violent end to an operation last year which left nine dead.About 350 pro-Palestinian supporters hailing from 22 countries are set to join the Freedom Flotilla leaving from Greek ports.Bestselling Swedish crime writer Henning Mankell and many journalists are among those taking part in the action seeking to break a five-year long Israeli naval blockade.Nine Turks died when Israeli forces seized the Mavi Marmara, a ship taking part in the international aid flotilla in May last year.The raid sparked worldwide condemnation and soured relations between Ankara and Tel-Aviv.

Israel said on Thursday it was determined to stop the flotilla, calling the protest a provocation and saying the country had a right to self defence.UN envoy Ron Prosor said: The flotilla has nothing constructive -- there is nothing humanitarian or anything that has to do with Palestinian welfare in the organizing of this flotilla.
UN Secretary General Ban Ki-moon and a number of governments have warned the flotilla not to start while the US government has urged its nationals against taking part in the protest.Israel imposed a blockade on Gaza in 2006 after militants snatched Israeli soldier Gilad Shalit. A ban on civilian goods and foodstuffs was eased last year but many restrictions remain in place.Boats from Greece, France, Italy and Spain are among those taking part in the flotilla. Ankara said the Mavi Marmara had been withdrawn this year and that there would be no Turkish vessels involved in the operation.The boats will leave from various Greek ports or meet off the coast, said Vaguelis Pissias from the country's A boat for Gaza group, without specifying a departure date.Greek is being used as a departure point due to its geographic position and its historical, cultural relations with Arab countries, he said.Two cargo boats will carry medicines, a fully-equipped ambulance car and cement.
What happened last year caused us grave concern ... but we are determined to go to Gaza, our aim is not simply to break the embargo but to show Israelis and people in the region that they have the right to live more harmoniously,said Pissias.The United States said last week that such flotillas were not needed to funnel humanitarian aid because aid can be delivered to the Israeli port of Ashdod, from where it can be transported to Gaza.We do not believe that the flotilla is a necessary or useful effort to try to assist the people of Gaza, said US Secretary of State Hillary Clinton.Just this week, the Israeli government approved a significant commitment to housing in Gaza. There will be construction materials entering Gaza.
And we think that it?s not helpful for there to be flotillas that try to provoke actions by entering into Israeli waters and creating a situation in which the Israelis have the right to defend themselves,Clinton said.

Latest developments in Arab world's unrest
By The Associated Press – Sat Jun 25, 5:39 pm ET

SYRIA-Hundreds of Syrians, some with gunshot wounds, cross into neighboring Lebanon in search of a refuge from the growing government crackdown in their homeland, a Lebanese security official says. Other Syrians march in a funeral for victims of the crackdown outside Damascus, demanding President Bashar Assad's ouster.Most refugees arriving at the Lebanese border came after Syrian security forces opened fire on protesters in anti-regime demonstrations across Syria on Friday. Syrian activists say 20 people were killed, including two children aged 12 and 13.

LIBYA-Libyan authorities accuse NATO of killing 15 people in an airstrike that they say hit a restaurant and bakery in the east, though the alliance denies the report.
It is the latest outcry from Libyan leader Moammar Gadhafi's government blaming NATO for killing civilians amid a four-month uprising that has sparked a civil war. NATO insists it does all it can to avoid such casualties.Rebel representatives, meanwhile, say their fighters are coordinating around the country for the zero hour when their forces would reach the capital of Tripoli.The rebels say they have been working to cut fuel supplies from the Tunisian border in an attempt to paralyze Gadhafi's forces. Rebels also are making homemade bombs and trying to ferry other weapons to their comrades in Tripoli, a spokesman for an underground guerrilla group there says.

EGYPT-Amnesty International urges Egypt's military rulers to break with the past and abolish repressive laws and practices as the country prepares for parliamentary elections in the aftermath of Hosni Mubarak's ouster.Amnesty Secretary-General Salil Shetty tells reporters during a visit to Cairo that the military council that took power from Mubarak on an interim basis after February's political upheaval should fulfill a promise to scrap decades-old emergency laws that gave Mubarak's security agents and police a free hand to silence dissent.This is an incredible moment of opportunity for the Egyptian authorities to show they have made a clean break with past abuses,he says.

YEMEN-Yemeni forces kill three men who were among nearly 60 suspected al-Qaida militants who escaped from prison this past week, officials says. The three escapees were awaiting execution in the Mukalla prison in southern Yemen, where inmates attacked guards, seized their weapons and fled through a tunnel on Wednesday in another sign that Islamic militants are making gains amid Yemen's political turmoil.
Nearly four months of anti-government protests have left the country's president of more than three decades clinging to power.

TUNISIA-Tunisia's official news agency says a Tunis appeals court has upheld the conviction of a nephew of ousted President Zine El Abidine Ben Ali on drug use and possession charges.The court gave Imed Trabelsi a four-year prison sentence, twice the penalty handed down in the original trial in May. He was also fined 3,000 dinars ($2,100).A Justice Ministry spokesman says Trabelsi will stand trial on other charges including corruption, fraud and illegal trafficking of archaeological items.
Ben Ali fled to Saudi Arabia Jan. 14 amid a public uprising. He and his wife, Leila Trabelsi, were convicted in absentia Monday and sentenced to 35 years each in prison and fined millions of dollars.

Israel marks five years since capture of soldier
by Gali Tibbon – Sat Jun 25, 3:39 pm ET

JERUSALEM (AFP) – The parents of an Israeli soldier snatched by Palestinians five years ago chained themselves to railings near the premier's home on Saturday to protest against their son's continued captivity.Elsewhere, hundreds of supporters of captive sergeant Gilad Shalit gathered in southern Israel near the Gaza border, close to the site where militants seized him on June 25, 2006 in a cross-border raid that killed two other soldiers and wounded five.And in a commercial TV studio near Tel Aviv, celebrities took it in turns to spend one hour each in a mock-up cell to dramatise Shalit's plight.In Jerusalem, Shalit's parents Noam and Aviva, his brother Yoel and Yoel's girlfriend Yaara Winkler used a length of chain and a padlock to attach themselves to the railings of a building metres (yards) from Benjamin Netanyahu's official residence, linking themselves with plastic ties.We are a family already in captivity for five years -- we'll stay here as long as necessary,Noam Shalit told journalists.The group was ringed by members of Netanyahu's security detail, but there was no attempt to move them.The action took place close to the pavement protest tent where Shalit's parents and supporters have spent the past year.

Earlier on Saturday, French Ambassador Christophe Bigot gave the Shalits a letter from French President Nicolas Sarkozy addressed to Gilad, who also holds French nationality, saying France will never abandon you.Sarkozy's letter, addressed Dear Gilad and seen by AFP, said the French president does not accept the isolation which your jailers have imposed upon you for five years, in violation of all the norms of international law and the most basic principles of humanity.You are spending the years of your youth in the most extreme solitude, Sarkozy wrote.This situation is outrageous. Nothing could justify it.It is time for those responsible for your captivity to take the decision to cease this endless, unacceptable and revolting imprisonment.Bigot told reporters that France was doing everything possible to win Shalit's freedom but that he could not give details.At the rally in southern Israel, near where Shalit was captured by militants from three Gaza-based groups, including Hamas, around 300 people gathered to call for his release.Organisers read out a letter from his grandfather Zvi Shalit, blaming Netanyahu for rejecting a prisoner swap deal with Hamas for Shalit's release.The prime minister, in his refusal to compromise, is gambling daily with the life of my grandson and endangering him, the letter said.Later, 24 Israeli celebrities began taking turns in a mock-up of a cell for an hour each, to back demands for a prisoner swap. Their vigil is being captured on video which will be posted on Facebook.Pictures broadcast on state-run Channel One TV showed the set depicting a grim and gloomy concrete space, with sand on the floor and a cracked and filthy toilet in the corner.

In Gaza City, Hamas organised a rally of its own.Its supporters also set up a make-believe cell, with a character inside dressed as Shalit in an Israeli army uniform. A cake with five flowers, representing the five years of his captivity, was placed in front of him.A loudspeaker played a recording of Shalit pleading with Netanyahu to free him. It was taken from a video -- the last proof he was alive -- that was released in October 2009.A banner said: The Red Cross asked for the release of Shalit, but we are asking the Red Cross if it has heard of the 7,000 Palestinian prisoners in Israeli jails.Hamas's military wing, the Al-Qassam Brigades, issued a statement on its website saying Shalit would not see the light of day until the Palestinian prisoners were released.On Friday, White House spokesman Jay Carney said the United States condemns in the strongest possible terms his continued detention, and joins other governments and international organisations around the world in calling on Hamas to release him immediately.UN chief Ban Ki-moon called for Shalit's immediate release, and asked Hamas to protect his life, treat him humanely, prove that he is alive and allow the Shalit family to have contact with their son.

U.S. warns against new Gaza flotilla plans
– Fri Jun 24, 5:18 pm ET

WASHINGTON (Reuters) – The United States warned activists on Friday against plans to send a new aid flotilla to challenge Israel's blockade of the Gaza Strip, saying it would be irresponsible and dangerous.Groups that seek to break Israel's maritime blockade of Gaza are taking irresponsible and provocative actions that risk the safety of their passengers, State Department spokesperson Victoria Nuland said in a statement.Secretary of State Hillary Clinton said there were better ways of getting help into Gaza.We don't think it's useful or productive or helpful to the people of Gaza, Clinton told reporters after a meeting with the visiting South Korean foreign minister.We believe that a far better approach is to support the work that is being done through the United Nations ... to ensure that the people of Gaza get access to materials and humanitarian assistance in a safe and timely way.Israel said on Wednesday it had warned the United Nations that a new aid flotilla -- which activists say could depart from European ports in coming days -- could result in dangerous consequences.Israel has made clear it will prevent any new flotilla from reaching Gaza. A year ago, nine Turkish activists, including one with dual U.S.-Turkish nationality, were killed in an Israeli raid on a similar convoy.

The Israeli military came under fierce criticism for the May 2010 raid, which led to a severe deterioration of its ties with Turkey.The United States, Israel's most important ally, has backed Israel's blockade of Gaza, which the Palestinian Islamist Hamas group seized from forces loyal to Western-backed Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas in 2007.Palestinians say the Israeli sea blockade is illegal and is helping strangle Gaza's underdeveloped economy.Nuland said the United States remained concerned about conditions in Gaza, but that the situation there had improved significantly over the past year with a broader range of goods and materials available.But she said that recent weapons seizures and periodic rocket and mortar attacks from Gaza against Israeli civilians illustrated the ongoing necessity for Israel to screen Gaza-bound cargo.We underscore that delivering or attempting or conspiring to deliver material support or other resources to or for the benefit of a designated foreign terrorist organization, such as Hamas, could violate U.S. civil and criminal statutes and could lead to fines and incarceration, Nuland said.Clinton said the people of Gaza were the victims of the decisions that have been made over the past years by Hamas,and that the United States hoped to see changes in the way the region is administered.The contrast between the rising standard of living and economic opportunity and educational and health services in the West Bank, compared to Gaza, I think tell a very compelling story,she said.(Editing by Jackie Frank and Peter Cooney)

Hezbollah members confess to spying for CIA: Nasrallah by Natacha Yazbeck – Fri Jun 24, 4:30 pm ET

BEIRUT (AFP) – Hezbollah chief Hassan Nasrallah on Friday said members of his group had confessed to being CIA agents, and accused arch-foe Israel of turning to the US spy agency after failing to infiltrate his party.The US embassy in Beirut immediately dismissed the accusations as empty, saying Nasrallah seemed to be addressing internal problems within Hezbollah.In the first such acknowledgement of infiltration since the Iranian-backed Shiite group's founding in the 1980s, Nasrallah refused to give the identities of two party members he said were working for the Central Intelligence Agency.But he said a third case was also under investigation, and slammed the American embassy in Beirut as a den of spies.When the Israeli enemy failed to infiltrate Hezbollah, it turned to the most powerful intelligence agency, he said in a closed-circuit television speech, referring to the CIA.Our investigation has found that... (CIA) intelligence officers have recruited two of our members separately, whom we shall not name out of respect for the privacy of their families.The first confessed he was recruited five months ago... while the second confessed he had been recruited even before that, he said, adding that the recruiters were CIA agents posing as diplomats at the US embassy east of Beirut.

Nasrallah also said the group was investigating whether the third member of the militant group had been recruited by the CIA, Israel's Mossad or the intelligence service of a European country.A US embassy spokesperson told AFP there was no substance to Nasrallah's accusations, pointing instead to internal problems within Hezbollah.These are the same kinds of empty accusations that we have repeatedly heard from Hezbollah, the US spokesperson said shortly after Nasrallah's speech.
There is no substance to his accusation, he added.It appears as if Nasrallah was addressing internal problems within Hezbollah with which we have nothing to do.Our position towards Hezbollah is well known and has not changed.The United States blacklists Hezbollah as a terrorist organisation.Nasrallah warned that Hezbollah, which prides itself on the discipline of its members and its immunity to infiltration, was facing a new threat.A new confrontation has now begun, he said. We were already in a state of confrontation with the Israeli enemy, but now we are being targeted by US intelligence, opening a new front in our struggle.The Shiite leader insisted, however, that the alleged agents had not been involved in the 2008 assassination of senior Hezbollah operative Imad Mughnieh in the Syrian capital Damascus.Hezbollah openly accused Israel of being behind the bombing that killed Mughnieh and vowed to avenge his death. The Jewish state denied responsibility.More than 100 people in Lebanon have been arrested on suspicion of spying for Israel since April 2009, including military personnel and telecommunications employees.Lebanon and Israel technically remain in a state of war and convicted spies face life imprisonment or the death sentence if found guilty of contributing to Lebanese loss of life.

Lebanon has protested to the United Nations over the alleged spy networks.Syrian- and Iranian-backed Hezbollah last fought a devastating war with Israel in 2006.The month-long conflict killed more than 1,200 Lebanese, mainly civilians, and 160 Israelis, mainly soldiers, and destroyed much of Lebanon's major infrastructure.

French Mideast conference plan sows confusion
– Fri Jun 24, 2:07 pm ET

BRUSSELS (AFP) – Europe's leaders Friday backed a French plan for a Palestinian donor conference as President Nicolas Sarkozy insisted it had a wider goal of gathering Palestinians and Israelis together for peace talks.Confusion surfaced when EU leaders issued a summit statement backing a conference in Paris to provide economic support for the construction of the Palestinian state in the framework of a re-launched peace process.The wording of the European Union statement stopped short of endorsing efforts by Paris to transform its plan for July donor talks into a wider Middle East peace conference, but left the door open to this possibility should the peace process resume any time soon.Sarkozy said at a news conference following the summit that there is an agreement to back the French initiative.But he described that initiative as a Paris conference, a peace initiative between Palestinians and Israelis, and this initiative will enable Europe to have a joint position.The French offer of a conference has so far met with resistance from the United States as well as parties to the talks.The EU's statement also said its leaders backed a call by foreign policy chief Catherine Ashton for the re-launch of the peace process as a matter of urgency.Ashton on June 10 sent a letter to her fellow principals in the Middle East Quartet -- Russia, the United Nations and the United States -- saying a gesture was critical before the summer in order to calm a volatile situation should the UN vote on backing a Palestinian state in September.

Fundamental changes across the Arab world highlight the need for progress on the Middle East peace process and to overcome the current stalemate,the statement said.
An EU diplomat said the bloc hoped to see a high-level meeting of the diplomatic Quartet in the next two or three weeks -- a move that would signal movement on the negotiation front.Envoys from the Quartet met in Brussels on Friday to look at the possibility of calling a meeting of principals, or ministerial-level talks, but there was no immediate word on a date for further talks.The EU statement also welcomed US President Barack Obama's proposal for talks to be based on Israel's 1967 borders and warned all parties to abstain from unilateral actions that are not conducive to a comprehensive solution.And it expressed grave concern on the fate of Gilad Shalit, on the fifth anniversary of the Israeli soldier's capture by Gaza-based militants.

Abbas says no turning back from Palestinian unity efforts – Fri Jun 24, 11:10 am ET

ANKARA (AFP) – Palestinian leader Mahmud Abbas vowed Friday to press ahead with efforts for a unity government, as disagreements with Hamas continue to snag the process.We are continuing on the path of reconciliation and there will be no turning back, Abbas said after talks with Turkish Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan that marked the end of his four-day visit to Ankara.We will make all efforts possible until the unity of our nation is achieved and a transitional government is established, he told reporters through an interpreter.On Sunday, a Palestinian official cited Abbas' trip to Turkey among the reasons for the indefinite postponement of his meeting with Hamas chief Khaled Meshaal, which had been scheduled for Tuesday in Cairo.The two were to have finalised the formation of a unity government.But other officials said later that disagreement over who should be the next Palestinian premier was holding up the creation of an interim government.

The Cairo meeting was postponed due to Hamas opposition to the reappointment of Western-backed economist Salam Fayyad, they said.On Tuesday, the day Abbas arrived in Ankara, Meshaal was in Istanbul holding talks with Turkish Foreign Minister Ahmet Davutoglu on ways to overcome disagreements with Fatah.A senior Palestinian official familiar with the talks told AFP in Ramallah that Turkey had informed Abbas that Hamas adamantly refused to accept Fayyad's reappointment.He said Hamas would accept any other official the president proposes, just not Salam Fayyad.Hamas associates Fayyad with a crackdown on Hamas in the West Bank in cooperation with Israel.Under a unity deal signed in May, the old rivals must agree on independent figures to be included in a government that will lay the groundwork for legislative and presidential elections within a year.Turkey has sought to mediate in efforts to reconcile Fatah and Hamas, braving Israel's ire over contacts with Meshaal's radical Islamist group.Erdogan offered all support to secure Palestinian unity and stressed that Ankara does not want to see bloodshed between brothers in Palestine.He promised to resolutely support a Palestinian bid for membership in the United Nations.Turkey will host a meeting of Palestinian ambassadors, scheduled for July 23-24 in Istanbul, Erdogan said.He renewed a call on Israel to lift as soon as possible the inhumane and unlawful blockade of the Hamas-run Gaza Strip and allow the entry of goods, notably construction materials to rebuild infrastructure destroyed during a major Israeli offensive.Relations between one-time allies Turkey and Israel were soured last year when Israeli troops killed nine Turks in a raid on a Turkish ferry leading an international aid flotilla that attempted to break the blockade of Gaza.Their ties had already been strained over Erdogan's frequent outbursts against Israel and his defence of Hamas.

Turkey supports Palestinian recognition
– Fri Jun 24, 9:27 am ET

ANKARA, Turkey – Turkey's prime minister has voiced strong backing for Palestinian plans to seek U.N. recognition of an independent state.Recep Tayyip Erdogan said Friday that Turkey would mobilize support to help Palestinians achieve recognition and form their own state. He was addressing reporters after talks with Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas.Erdogan also said Turkey was prepared to contribute toward Palestinian efforts to form a unity government.Turkish Foreign Minister Ahmet Davutoglu this week held separate meetings with Abbas and Hamas leader Khaled Mashaal, days after they called off a meeting in Egypt meant to finalize a reconciliation agreement.Abbas reaffirmed commitment to Palestinian unity saying: there will be no turning back from the road to reconciliation.