AFP: BERLIN — Germany's foreign minister embarked Wednesday on a tour of Turkey and the Gulf to promote efforts to revive the Middle East peace process and weigh security risks emanating from Yemen and Iran.
Guido Westerwelle, who is head of the pro-business Free Democrats and vice-chancellor in Angela Merkel's centre-right government, flew to Ankara with a delegation including several executives scouting investment opportunities.
Westerwelle's spokesman said the five-day tour, which will also take in Saudi Arabia, Qatar and the United Arab Emirates, would focus on the Iranian nuclear programme, Afghanistan, and the threat posed by Al-Qaeda operatives based in Yemen.
"The issues will also include the situation in Middle East, the state of the peace process and how we can manage, together with our partners in the region, to bring about a new start in the Middle East peace process," Andreas Peschke said amid a swirl of regional diplomacy aimed at restarting talks.
Westerwelle was to join his counterpart Ahmet Davutoglu for dinner in the Turkish capital ahead of official meetings Thursday with President Abdullah Gul and Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan and other government ministers.
Germany boasts a three-million-strong minority of Turkish origin -- the largest outside Turkey.
Merkel's conservatives are deeply sceptical about Ankara's bid to join the European Union and would prefer to grant Turkey a "privileged partnership" with the bloc. Westerwelle is seen as more supportive of its long-term accession. >>> | Wednesday, January 06, 2010
