- Title: TURKEY: Syria says Israel not ready for peace
- Date: 9th May 2010
- Summary: ISTANBUL, TURKEY (MAY 8, 2010) (REUTERS) SYRIAN PRESIDENT BASHAR AL-ASSAD ARRIVING TO CIRAGAN PALACE BY CAR BASHAR AL-ASSAD GETTING OUT OF CAR AND BEING GREETED BY TURKISH PRESIDENT ABDULLAH GUL SYRIAN AND TURKISH FLAGS GUL AND ASSAD POSING FOR CAMERAS WITH THEIR WIVES HAYRUNISA GUL AND ASMA AL-ASSAD SYRIAN DELEGATES GUL AND ASSAD WAVING HANDS AND LEAVING SYRIAN AN
- Embargoed: 24th May 2010 13:00
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- Reuters ID: LVA4NW6MYYZQP2GYD8EOH1SR7XNG
- Story Text: Syrian President Bashar al-Assad says Israel not currently a viable partner for peace talks.
Syrian President Bashar al-Assad rebuked Israel on Saturday (May 8) and said they were not a serious partner for regional peace.
Assad made the comments during a visit to Istanbul's Ciragan Palace where he met with his Turkish counterpart Abdullah Gul.
"As for peace, we spoke about peace, you may ask what peace we are referring to as there is no peace, no peace process or a viable partner," Assad said.
"Peace, as it appears, is not a demand of the Israelis, but we are committed to this mediation, and Turkey's role, but we also emphasise the fact that Israel is not a partner, at least at the present stage, and I don't think they were a partner in the past either," he added.
Israel and Syria held four indirect rounds of peace talks through Turkish mediators in 2008, but they were suspended following the resignation of Israeli Prime Minister Ehud Olmert in September that year.
Damascus said at the time of the Israeli offensive in Gaza at the end of 2008 that it ruled out a resumption of the indirect talks any time soon.
Gul admitted that getting peace talks restarted would be a challenge but voiced optimism.
"To tell the truth we haven't heard from Israel. Of course, it is their decision to make. Better lose the saddle than the horse. A fair and sustainable solution will be reached in the end," he said.
Israel has recently aired reservations about Turkey's suitability for mediation as ties soured following Turkish Prime Minister Tayyip Erdogan's repeated criticism of the Israeli offensive in Hamas-ruled Gaza in December 2008 and January 2009.
Israel occupied the Golan Heights, Israel's main water reservoir, during the 1967 Middle East war and annexed it in 1981 in a move rejected by the United Nations Security Council.
Muslim but secular Turkey has a history of military cooperation with Israel, and has acted as an intermediary between the Jewish state and the Arab World.
Warmer ties between NATO member Turkey and its fellow Muslim neighbours, including Iran and Syria, have raised concerns in some quarters that Ankara's traditionally Western-anchored foreign policy is moving eastwards. - Copyright Holder: REUTERS
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