Report: Israel asks Turkey to renew mediation of Syria talks

Turkish Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan said Wednesday he has been asked by Israel to mediate the renewal of indirect peace talks with Syria, UPI reported.

Erdogan made the comments prior to meeting Syrian President Bashar Assad in Aleppo, Syria, Wednesday, the news agency quoted Qatari newspaper al-Watan as reporting. There has been no official Israeli response to the Turkish prime minister's statement, UPI said.

The official Syrian news agency SANA said Thursday that Erdogan and Assad discussed the need for a comprehensive peace deal in the Middle East.

SANA said such an accord can occur only if Israel is willing to make a deal based on "the implementation of international legitimacy resolutions and the Israeli withdrawal from occupied Arab territories, including the Syrian Golan, to the line of June 4, 1967."

Israeli and Syrian officials met for indirect peace talks a number of times in Turkey during the tenure of former Prime Minister Ehud Olmert.

The talks came to a halt last year following Israel's 3-week offensive against Hamas in the Gaza Strip, and after Olmert became embroiled in multiple corruption investigations, which led to his resignation.

According to SANA, the pair also agreed to work toward lifting the Israeli-led blockade on Gaza.

The leaders also agreed on "the importance of continuing exerting efforts towards the achievement of the Palestinian-Palestinian reconciliation that ensures the unity of the Palestinian ranks in the struggle for the restoration of rights, on top of which the establishment of the independent Palestinian state," the Syrian news agency said.