Hurriyet English
OluÅŸturulma Tarihi: Haziran 16, 2008 17:41
Turkish Foreign Minister said Monday the second round of indirect peace talks between Israel and Syria convened in positive and constructive atmosphere, as the sides decided to meet again. (UPDATED)
Both parties reiterated their determination to carry on talks on regular basis, during talks which took place on Friday and Saturday, the ministry said in a statement. It added the next round of talks between Israel and Syria was also scheduled, but did not give any specific date.
Israeli Prime Minister Ehud Olmert aides Yoram Turbowicz and Shalom Turjeman held indirect talks with Syrian counterparts in Ankara on Sunday and Monday.
Israel and Syria announced last month a resumption of peace talks under Turkey's auspices after an eight-year break, as a result of a process that Olmert said began in February 2007.Â
Israeli envoys holding indirect peace talks with Syrian officials will propose the leaders of the two countries should meet in France next month, Israeli political sources told Reuters on Monday. Â
Both men are to attend a July 13 summit of a new union of European and Mediterranean countries in Paris and Olmert, who sent aides to resume talks in Turkey, has offered to meet Assad on the sidelines, an Israeli political source said.
The two countries will soon be able to hold direct talks, according to Turbovitch and Turgeman, who involved in the two countries' indirect negotiations, Israel's Haaretz daily reported on Sunday.  Â
Syria wants the full return of the Golan Heights, which Israel seized from Syria in the 1967 Arab-Israeli war and annexed in 1981 in a move not recognized by the international community.
Israel says any peace deal depends on Syria distancing itself from Iran and severing ties with Lebanon's Hezbollah movement and the Palestinian Islamist group Hamas, which seized control of the Gaza Strip last June. Â
The last round of peace talks broke down in 2000 over the fate of the Golan Heights. Those talks were hosted by the United States.Â
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NO TALK OF OLMERT-ASSAD MEETING
A senior Turkish source familiar with the talks said that at this stage there is still no talk of a meeting at the highest levels between Olmert and Assad, Haaretz reported on Monday.
"It is still too early to talk about diplomatic agreements between the two sides since there are many technical issues remaining from the previous meeting for which Damascus and Jerusalem offered answers around which the current discussions will revolve," a Turkish source told Haaretz.
"It is at an early stage but it is clear that the talks are being held on the basis of an agreement in principle that Israel will withdraw from the Golan Heights in return for the normalization of relations between Syria and Israel. The nature of that normalization, its extent and phases will be discussed at a later stage," the source added.
The same source added that the visit of Assad to Paris next month may serve as "a significant launch pad for furthering the process; however Assad is expecting American mediation and this can only happen following the presidential elections in the United States."
Turgeman and Turbowicz will deliver a message to the Syrians that Israel is interested in continuing the ongoing indirect negotiations notwithstanding the complex domestic political situation at home.
Photo: AFP
