Syria Today | Turkey pushes to restart Syrian-Israeli indirect peace talks

Turkey pushes to restart Syrian-Israeli indirect peace talks

More than a year after the breakdown of Turkish-mediated indirect peace talks between Syria and Israel, Ankara announced last month that it is close to bringing the two sides to the negotiating table again.

“There is an interest in revitalising these talks,” Turkish Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan told reporters during a trip to Riyadh on March 9. “Syria wants Turkey as the mediator. Israel has been moving on this so possibly we can restart talks, I hope.”

In an official statement released after Erdogan’s comments, the office of Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu denied it had taken the decision to engage in a new round of indirect talks via Turkish mediation. The statement added, however, that if Erdogan’s comments reflected “Turkey’s desire to strengthen its relations with Israel and to contribute to peacemaking in the region, then Israel would clearly welcome that aspiration”.

Syria and Israel held five rounds of indirect talks under Turkish mediation in 2008. Talks broke down, however, when Israel launched its military assault on Gaza in late December of that year, a move condemned by both Damascus and Ankara and which caused Turkish-Israeli relations to nosedive in 2009.

News of the possible resumption of Syrian-Israeli indirect peace negotiations comes after verbal threats of war between the two countries. The barrage of verbal salvos was sparked when Israeli Defense Minister Ehud Barak said on February 1 that the absence of a peace agreement could trigger a regional war. Responding, Syrian Foreign Minister Walid al-Mu’allem said at a news conference on February 3: “Do not test the resolve of Syria, you know that war this time will reach your cities.”

Meanwhile, on the Palestinian-Israeli peace track, eight Palestinian Damascus-based groups, including Hamas, signed a statement on March 8 rejecting the Palestinian Liberation Organization’s (PLO) decision to resume indirect talks with Israel, a move which would effectively end a 14-month breakdown in communication between the two sides.

The statement said the decision to hold US-mediated talks with Israel for four months comes in response to US and Israeli pressure. It also said the decision is a retreat from an earlier pledge by the PLO not to negotiate with Israel until it halts its settlement activities.