Assad and Turkish Premier Recep Tayyip Erdogan in Istanbul, Turkey, on May 9, 2010. They lauded the patronage of Sultan Qaboos bin Saeed of Oman of the signing ceremony of the Free Trade Agreement between the GCC member states and the European Free Trade League Association (AFTA) which was signed on June 22, 2009. Al-Atiyyah then gave an account on the council's achievements since the convening of the 30th summit in Kuwait, citing the establishment of the Customs Union, GCC Common Market, GCC Monetary Council and paving the way for the establishment of the GCC Central Bank, the launching of an unified currency, railway network and other investment projects. Also reviewed during the meeting were the overall situations in the region, particularly the UAE Iran-occupied islands, Iran's nuclear file, the issue of Palestine, Iraq, Sudan and Somalia. On the UAE islands of Tomb Al-Kubra, Tomb Al-Sughra and Abu-Musa, he said the leaders reiterated their position in support of UAE sovereignty over the territory and its call for peaceful solution either through direct negotiations between the two parties or resort to international arbitration. On Iran's nuclear file, they reiterated their commitment to the principles of respecting the international legitimacy of solving disputes through peaceful means, noting the importance of making the Middle East nuclear free of mass destruction weapons and nuclear weapons and welcoming the current international efforts to reach a peaceful solution to the Iranian nuclear file. On Iraq, they underscored the importance of respecting Iraq's unity, sovereignty and independence and preserving its Arab and Islamic identity and non-interfering in its internal affairs, hoping that the recently-concluded elections would give birth to a national government to lead the country to a safe haven. On Palestine, the leaders expressed profound concern over the continuation of Israeli siege on the Palestinian people in Gaza and the Israeli government's decision to displace tens of thousands of Palestinians from the West Bank, hoping that indirect negotiations between Israel and the Palestinian parties could reach their projected peace goals. --More
