Laurels for Another Female Foreign Minister

He said they must meet three conditions: recognizing Israel's right to exist, renouncing violence and honoring peace agreements negotiated by former Palestinian Authority governments. At the same time, Sensoy said, Israel "has to be patient and calm as much as possible before jumping to conclusions and in giving Hamas the opportunity to think things over."

Sensoy, who has served in diplomatic positions in New York, London, Caracas, Madrid and Havana, said in an interview last week that Turkey also had a unique position as a facilitator to smooth thorny relations with Iran and Syria.

"Iran has built its own dynamic. We have to respect the form of government they selected. There are social and cultural affinities, and we have found a modus vivendi with Iran since we concluded a peace agreement in 1639," he said. But he added that Iran's nuclear program is "a big concern. That is where we join ourselves to the international community. We support a nuclear-free zone."

The ambassador said Turkey was looking to develop its own nuclear energy capacity. He said the Turkish government is thinking of building five power plants to generate nuclear energy to meet 5 percent of its needs.

"This is done all over Europe, and it is just normal for Turkey to have another component in its energy resources," he said, pointing out that Turkey signed the Non-Proliferation Treaty.

In its relations with Iran, Iraq and Syria, he said, Turkey always has sought to engage rather than alienate. Turkey cannot forget that Syria harbored terrorists and Kurdish leaders, he said, but "at the same time, we are neighbors . . . Although we should have no sympathy for the leadership of Syria, we have an affinity for the people of Syria, and we have to cope with the realities of the day."

Swede's New Role

Jan Eliasson , the former ambassador from Sweden who is best known here for moving Sweden's chancery to a spectacular new site on the banks of the Potomac, has been appointed his country's new foreign minister. He will take up the post next month.

Eliasson, who has been serving as president of the 60th session of the U.N. General Assembly, also served as Sweden's ambassador to the U.N. from 1988-92 and as the U.N. Secretary General's special envoy to Iran and Iraq. He was envoy in Washington from 2002-05.