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New Zealand PM calls for renewed Mideast peace efforts

Xinhua, April 24, 2015 Adjust font size:

New Zealand Prime Minister John Key has used an event to mark the centenary of a bloody First World War campaign to defend his country's military aid in the fight against Islamic State (IS) insurgents in Iraq.

Key also used his platform at the International Peace Summit in Istanbul to call for renewed efforts for a two-state solution to the Israeli-Palestinian conflict.

One hundred years on from the Canakkale Land and Sea Battles, which included the ill-fated Gallipoli campaign, the world was facing security threats of a very different nature and the rise and reach of the Islamic State was foremost among them.

"New Zealand must play a role, along with others here today, in standing up to the brutality and extremism of IS," Key said in the speech released by his office Friday.

"New Zealand is a nation of travelers, and our country has close and important relations with countries in the Middle East, in Europe and closer to home in the Asia-Pacific region, where terrorist groups are operating."

The need for a strong United Nations Security Council and a focus on conflict prevention had never been greater.

New Zealand also supported the importance of the Middle East Peace Process and a negotiated, two-state solution as the only real basis for an enduring Israeli-Palestinian peace and for security and stability in the region.

"The next few months provide an opportunity to reinvigorate the Middle East Peace Process and to bring the two parties together once more to negotiate a lasting peace," he said.

"New Zealand, as a friend of both Israel and the Palestinian Authority, and as a member of the Security Council, stands ready to work with the two parties and interested countries to advance this issue."

The hundreds of delegates at the summit included leaders from Australia, Turkey, Iraq and Qatar.

A force of up to 143 New Zealand troops this month began to deploy in Iraq as part of a joint mission with Australia to train Iraqi forces in the fight against the IS. Endi