TURKEY/SYRIA: Turkish PM Erdogan says Turkey to mediate in Middle East talks; meets with Syrian President Bashar Al-Assad

Record ID: 217528

  • Title: TURKEY/SYRIA: Turkish PM Erdogan says Turkey to mediate in Middle East talks; meets with Syrian President Bashar Al-Assad
  • Date: 26th April 2008
  • Summary: (W3) DAMASCUS, SYRIA (APRIL 26, 2008) (REUTERS) TURKISH PRIME MINISTER RECEP TAYYIP ERDOGAN ARRIVING WITH SYRIAN PRESIDENT BASHAR AL-ASSAD TO THE MEETING HALL TURKISH PRIME MINISTER RECEP TAYYIP ERDOGAN SHAKING HANDS WITH SYRIAN PRESIDENT BASHAR AL-ASSAD VARIOUS OF THE MEETING BETWEEN TURKISH PRIME MINISTER RECEP TAYYIP ERDOGAN AND SYRIAN PRESIDENT BASHAR AL-ASSAD CLOSE OF
  • Embargoed: 11th May 2008 13:00
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  • Reuters ID: LVAE7D5XNOP1AGT98U4BRE6B4O1Y
  • Story Text: Turkish Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan met with Syrian President Bashar al-Assad in Damascus on Saturday (April 26) to discuss the Turkish mediation between Syrian and Israel.
    Before arriving in Syria to launch the first Syrian-Turkish economic forum, Erdogan held a news conference in Ankara during which he pointed to the role Turkey can play in mediating between parties in the Middle East.
    Assad told Qatar's al-Watan newspaper this week that Syria was ready to negotiate with Israel through Turkey to "find common ground" for peace, but any direct talks must wait until a new U.S. president was elected.
    Earlier this week Syrian President Bashar al-Assad said mediators were working to relaunch peace talks between Syria and Israel, but did not identify the mediators.
    Syrian-Israeli talks collapsed in 2000 over the scope of an Israeli pullout from the Golan Heights, occupied since 1967. Israel annexed the Golan in 1981 in a move condemned internationally.
    Syria wants Israel to commit to a full withdrawal from the Golan Heights and prefers the United States, Israel's chief ally, to oversee the talks.
    Israel wants Syria's ties with Lebanon's Hezbollah and the Palestinian Islamist group Hamas to be on the agenda.
    "The trust Turkey has (in the Mideast region), makes it almost obligatory to take on a mediating role. For instance, Sunni factions participated in the elections in Iraq, joined the parliament and now have power, even if limited, in the country's administration, at the end of work with them (Sunnis in Iraq), who had initially refused to participate in the elections. I believe the peace diplomacy we carry out will have a positive contribution whether in Iraq, between Syria and Israel or between Israel and Palestine," Erdogan told reporters before leaving for Damascus.
    Erdogan gave no details of the proposed talks with Assad.
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