DAVOS, Jan 29: Turkish Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan called on Thursday on new US leader Barack Obama to redefine terrorism in the Middle East to re-launch peace efforts in the region.

Erdogan, whose Islamist-rooted government is a Nato ally of the United States but has raised eyebrows through its contacts with the Palestinian militant group Hamas, claimed a key role in the peace process.

“Compared to western countries we best speak the language of the Middle East,” Erdogan told reporters at the World Economic Forum in Davos.

He said the new US envoy on the Middle East, George Mitchell, would visit Ankara on Sunday for talks.

“I believe that President Obama must redefine terror and terrorist organisations in the Middle East,” he said, hinting that the new leader should review US policy toward Hamas and other militant groups.

“And based on this new definition a new American policy must be implemented in the Middle East,” he added.

The Turkish government’s decision to maintain contacts with Hamas, even through the Gaza war this month, triggered opposition criticism that Turkey had become a supporter of the Islamist party, which is listed as a terrorist group by the West.

Erdogan has said the conflict cannot be resolved without Hamas involvement, while calling at the same time on the Islamists to renounce violence. He has already taken a message against “squeezing” Hamas to the European Union.

Erdogan told reporters in Davos he was ready to resume efforts to mediate between Israel and Syria.

However, he also expressed anger at Israel for launching its Dec 27 offensive into Gaza just as Turkey was pursuing contacts between Israel and the Damascus government.

“I saw this as a lack of respect for us,” he said. Erdogan repeated that Turkey believes Israel, an ally in the Middle East, used “disproportionate” force in the Gaza conflict. Erdogan said Turkey had learned through three-decades battling Kurdish separatists that terrorism is not just a security problem.

“We see that there is a diplomatic side, a social-economic side and a psychological side. So we must adopt a very comprehensive approach in order to find ways to fight terrorism.

“It is for this reason that we are trying to work with various countries in the region. Every country needs to evaluate for itself what it needs to do.

“We have to fully understand and analyse the terrorist who is a citizen in our country and the terrorist who is in another country. Because terrorism does not recognise borders, has no religion or creed, one cannot approach the problem by saying ‘my terrorist is fine and yours is not’.”—AFP