The four countries will establish a cooperation council
"to develop a long-term strategic partnership" and "create a
zone of free movement of goods and persons among our countries," it said.
The deal was agreed by the foreign ministers of the four
countries who met on the sidelines of a Turkish-Arab Economic Forum in
Istanbul.
The free trade zone will be based on "existing
bilateral agreements and practices on free trade and visa exemption"
between the parties, the statement said, adding that Turkey and Lebanon were
required to complete a bilateral arrangement before the four-way process could
go ahead.
"The quadripartite mechanism ... will be open to the
participation of all the other brotherly and friendly countries in the
region," it said.
Turkey's Islamist-rooted government, in power since 2002,
has significantly improved ties with the Arab world, often neglected in the
past amid the country's traditionally pro-Western orientation. Foreign Minister
Ahmet Davutoglu dismissed suggestions that Turkey's growing ties with Eastern
neighbors represented a search for an alternative to the country's struggling
bid to join the European Union. The free trade zone "is not an alternative
to the EU." "Turkey is determined to become a full member of the
European Union," he told reporters.
But Davutoglu said Turkey was equally determined to boost
economic cooperation with the Arab world to the highest level possible.
"We want a vehicle to leave from Turkey and reach Morocco without stopping
at any border gates," he said.
In a speech to delegates at the forum, Prime Minister Recep
Tayyip Erdogan called the imposition of UN sanctions on Iran a
"mistake" and said that Turkey and Brazil would continue to seek a
diplomatic solution to remove concerns over Iran's nuclear program.
Turkey and Brazil, both non-permanent members of the UN
Security Council, were the only members of the 15-strong Council to vote
Wednesday against the imposition of new sanctions against Iran. Lebanon abstained.
"We would not want to participate in such a mistake
because history will not forgive us," Erdogan told the meeting attended by
ministers from 22 members of the Arab League.
He said Turkey intended, with Brazil, to continue engaging
Tehran, having secured a nuclear fuel swap deal last month that they had hoped
would head off sanctions.
Turkey believes that sanctions are ineffective and that
there are dangers in pushing Iran into a corner. "Isolation is not the
solution to Iran's problems," Erdogan said.
Erdogan has become a hero to many in the Arab world for
championing the cause of Gaza's Palestinians and putting their plight to the
top of the world agenda after an Israeli raid on a Turkish aid ship killed
eight Turks and an American of Turkish origin. Erdogan spoke warmly of Turkey's
bonds with the Arab world. "A Turk cannot live without an Arab. An Arab is
the Turk's left eye," Erdogan said.
Erdogan spoke of "secret efforts" by some European
countries to slow down Turkey's bid for membership of the European Union. He
said Turkey was continuing with reforms to meet EU requirements regardless of
the hindrances.
The forum opened with calls for an international
investigation into the May 31 Israeli commando raid on aid ships bound for
Gaza. "Are we going to remain silent over the murder of nine people? We
can't turn a blind eye to this banditry in international waters," Erdogan
said. "This can't continue as it is."
Arab League Secretary-General Amr Moussa also accused Israel
of continued "atrocity and assault" in violation of human rights and
international law, and praised Turkey for challenging Israel on the raid.
Moussa said the nine dead "are our martyrs as well."