Egypt foreign minister delivers speech before Paris international conference on peace process

Egypt is ready to exert utmost efforts to set the stage for activating the Arab peace initiative, said Minister of Foreign Affairs Sameh Shoukry Friday.

Addressing the international ministerial meeting on the peace process in the Middle East in Paris, Shoukry extended thanks to French President François Hollande and the French government for holding this meeting to debate a real settlement to the Palestinian issue.

Representatives from more than 20 countries, including Egypt, are taking part in the meeting aimed at reviving the Middle East peace process.

Shoukry voiced Arab appreciation for France's historic stances in support of the Palestinians' right to establish an independent state. 

The French initiative is out of keenness on preserving regional and international stability, Shoukry said. 

On November 22, 1974, France voted in favor of the recognition of the Palestine Liberation Organization as a UN observer, Shoukry said, underlining that the Palestinian rights are "inalienable".

Also, former French president Francois Mitterrand was the first Western president to announce his support for the establishment of an independent Palestinian State before the Knesset in 1982, he said. 

He added the Palestinian issue passed through different stages starting from the Madrid Peace Conference in 1991, the Oslo Accords signed in 1993 and 1995, the Wye River Memorandum in 1998, the Camp David Summit in 2000, the Taba Summit in 2001, the adoption of the Arab Peace Initiative in Beirut in 2002 and the Sharm El Sheikh Summit in 2005.

He noted that the European Union adopted the idea of the acknowledgment of the Palestinian State in Berlin on March 25, 1999. 

This step was followed by former US president George Bush's speech in 2002, in which he called on the Palestinians and Israelis to live side by side in peace and security, the minister said.

The unsolved Palestinian problem affects regional and international stability, he said. 

He called on all parties to assume their responsibilities and push for real negotiation to reach a solution to the Palestinian problem. One that would help the Palestinians and Israelis to live in peace together, Shoukry said.

Commenting on Egypt's President Abdel Fattah El Sisi's recent statements on the Palestinian issue, Shoukri cited Sisi's words in which he stressed the importance of "collective effort" to find a real settlement to the Palestinian issue in a way that meets the aspirations of the Palestinian and Israeli peoples and paves the way for just and comprehensive peace in the region.

He urged the United States, Russia and European countries to cooperate with countries in the region to revive the stalled Middle East peace process.

Egypt is ready to exert utmost efforts to create an atmosphere for activating the Arab Peace Initiative, he reiterated, adding the Palestinian-Israeli negotiations should be based on "the principle of land for peace" and UN Security Council resolutions 242 and 338 and UNSC Resolution 1397 that backed a two-state solution. 

Shoukry called on the international community to assume its historic responsibilities toward the peace process.

Source ; MENA