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Would-be peacemaker Turkey pushing for Israel-Syria meeting By Haaretz Correspondent and AP , By Yoav Stern Tags: Syria, Turkey, Israel Turkey will try to organize a meeting with senior Syrian and Israeli officials, Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan said yesterday in Ankara following a meeting with Syrian President Bashar Assad in Damascus. "There was a request from Syria and Israel for this kind of effort and Turkey will do its best in this regard," Erdogan said. "This effort will start with lower-level [officials] and if they are successful, God willing, they will end with a higher-level meeting." Before leaving for Syria, Erdogan outlined his mediation. Advertisement Erdogan said Turkish efforts to mediate between Syria and Israel were part of a broader effort by Ankara to play the role of regional peace maker. "I believe that our peace diplomacy will, God willing, make positive contributions to [peace] in Iraq, between Syria and Israel or between Israel and the Palestinians," he said. Earlier, Assad also referred to peace efforts and expressed his willingness to continue cooperating with Turkey to bring security and stability to the region. His statement was carried by Syria's official news agency. During his lightning visit to Damascus, to attend the first meeting of a Turkish-Syrian business association, Erdogan held a two-and-a-half-hour meeting with Assad. Also at the meeting were Syrian Foreign Minister Walid Moallem and an adviser to Erdogan. Earlier, the chairman of the Committee for Foreign and Arab Affairs at the Syrian Parliament, Suleiman Haddad, expressed his hope that the Turkish mediation would be successful. In an interview to the Hezbollah news channel, Al-Manar, Haddad said that Syria's past experience had proven that Israel was not serious about peace, and he expressed his "hope that Israel is serious in its intentions now." '80 percent resolved' He added that during earlier rounds of negotiations between Israel and Syria "80 percent of the issues in dispute had been resolved." In an interview to Al-Watan, a Qatari daily, Assad said earlier last week that "Turkish mediation over the past year could lay the groundwork for direct talks with Israel." But for now, Assad said "talks would continue indirectly with Turkey as a go-between though future talks need to be brokered by the U.S. under a new administration." Asked in the interview whether people in the Middle East should expect a solution in the near future, Assad said: "No, don't because of the second party (Israel). I cannot guarantee that." Assad hinted in the Al-Watan interview that Syria would not retaliate militarily to the Israeli strike last year on what the U.S. claims was a nuclear reactor under construction with North Korea's help. "Israel wants to provoke Syria and maybe wants to pull Syria into war but we do not seek war. We were clear on this point and we have other methods," Assad said. Bookmark to del.icio.us   Survivors and pioneers Yad Vashem exhibit shows how Holocaust survivors helped shape Israel's identity Researching bacon Lahav's pig breeding gained widespread notoriety because of its legal loophole.

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