The Palestine Liberation Organization will open an office in Ankara, Turkey soon, according to reports reaching here today. Ankara’s consent to open a PLO office is seen both as a shift in Turkey’s Mideast policy and a diplomatic victory for the PLO.
According to the reports, the Turkish government made the pro-PLO move after talks between Turkish officials and a PLO delegation. The delegation arrived in Ankara for the talks following an agreement between PLO chief Yasir Arafat and Turkey’s Premier Bulent Ecevit in the wake of the recent attack on the Egyptian Embassy in Ankara by four Palestinian terrorists. The PLO mediated to resolve the Embassy takeover, and, as a result, Turkey accepted the PLO request to open an office.
Observers see this development as part of Ecevit’s new strategy of wooing its Arab and Moslem neighbors. Turkey, which has diplomatic ties with Israel, has been nonetheless keeping a low profile in dealing with the Jewish State.
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