Israel ties warm on envoy's visit

"This is a routine meeting scheduled long before now and has nothing to do with the tension that erupted between Turkey and Israel in the wake of the Israeli military campaign in Gaza last winter," a Turkish diplomat, who declined to be named, told the Daily News. Foreign Ministry Undersecretary Ertuğrul Apakan's talks in Israel marked the first official contact between the  regional allies since Israel's right-leaning coalition government took office.

"Every issue that concerns the two states will be on the table for discussion," the diplomat said.

The strain in Turkish-Israeli ties became evident following Israel-led war in Gaza at a time when Turkey was readying to host another round of indirect peace negotiations between Israel and Syria. The military offensive drew an outcry from Ankara and the tension peaked when Turkish Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdoğan became involved in a heated debate with Israeli President Shimon Peres at the 2009 World Economic Forum before storming out of the panel discussion.

Israel's previous government held talks with Syria last year, but Damascus froze contacts in protest of the Gaza war. Turkey says it is ready to host indirect talks and awaiting a signal from the parties concerned.

"When the two parties are ready we can start and Turkey is ready to contribute to this process, which is very important for regional stability," Foreign Minister Ahmet Davatoğlu was quoted as saying in New York.

However, in remarks published Monday in the Israeli press, Netanyahu said he did not want Turkish mediation due to the approach Ankara adopted throughout the Gaza war, while Syrian President Beshar al-Assad reportedly said the talks could only resume if they involved Turkey.

The Israeli prime minister expressed his concerns over Turkish mediation during talks with U.S. envoy to the Middle East, George Mitchell, Israel’s Haaretz newspaper reported on Monday. "Netanyahu explained Israel's opposition as a development of Turkey's stance during the offensive in the Gaza Strip in January," said Haaretz. The hard-line leader told Mitchell he was interested in resuming the negotiations with Syria "without preconditions."

But the Syrian president rejected the Israeli offer for a resumption of talks from "point zero" and stressed that Israel was well aware that the basis for talks was full withdrawal from the Golan Heights. Assad said the talks must resume from the point at which they stopped under former PMEhud Olmert.

"We are not that ambitious to mediate indirect talks. If the parties can do it themselves, we welcome it," the Turkish diplomat said. "Our mediation depends on the two parties' will." Meanwhile, although Apakan's meeting was part of an ongoing mechanism for strategic dialogue, diplomatic sources say their level could be raised higher. President Abdullah Gül was supposed to visit Israel in January but he had to postpone it due to an ear ailment that prevented him flying. Asked if a high-level visit to Israel could take place, the Turkish diplomat said: "Why not? Israel is not an enemy to us."