ISRAEL WANTS TURKEY BACK ON BOARD AS MEDIATOR WITH SYRIA

AZG DAILY
26-11-2009

International

Israeli Minister of Industry, Trade and Labor, Benjamin Ben-Eliezer,
is expected to propose to Turkey that it resume its mediation role
in peace talks between Israel and Syria, in exchange for a return
to more cordial relations between Israel and Turkey, according to
sources in Tel Aviv, almanar.com.lb reported.

The sources said that the policy was coordinated with Israeli Prime
Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and the Foreign Ministry in advance of
Ben-Eliezer’s departure on an official visit to Turkey Sunday evening.

The sources say that Ben-Eliezer will stress that Israel will view
Turkey as a mediator with Syria, but Turkey must first demonstrate
a return to the normal relations that existed with Israel before
a deterioration in ties at the beginning of the year in the wake
of Operation Cast Lead in Gaza. The normalization will have to be
shown through declarations and deeds, they say. Among such gestures,
Ben-Eliezer will propose that Turkish President Abdullah Gul pay a
visit to Israel and meet with President Shimon Peres.

In the course of Ben-Eliezer’s visit, he will attempt to return
economic, military, strategic and diplomatic ties to normal. The
official reason for the minister’s visit is the annual Turkish-Israeli
economic conference. In the course of his trip, Ben-Eliezer will
meet with the Turkish agriculture minister as well as the defense
minister, who heads the Turkish delegation to the conference. Efforts
have recently been underway to arrange a meeting with a high-level
Turkish political figure. In the absence of Prime Minister Recep
Tayyip Erdogan, who is abroad, a possible meeting with President Gul
or with Foreign Minister Ahmet Davutoglu is being explored.

"I hope my economic and political talks will make it possible to
get the important relations between Israel and its Turkish strategic
partner back on track," Ben-Eliezer said, adding, "Turkey has special
ties with Israel, and as a regional and democratic-Muslim power."

In the wake of Operation Cast Lead, Turkey found it difficult to
restrain its criticism of Israel in the face of pro-Palestinian public
opinion in Turkey. This was followed by public pressure, backed by
Erdogan, to halt cooperation between Israeli and Turkish companies.

In October Prime Minister Netanyahu rejected a Turkish proposal,
conveyed through Spain, to resume mediation efforts with Syria. About
a week later, Turkey canceled Israeli participation in air force
exercises on its soil. The anti-Israel Turkish policies have been
led by Prime Minister Erdogan, while President Gul is considered a
pro-Israeli figure in the Turkish leadership.

In reaction to recent declarations by Netanyahu regarding his readiness
to negotiate with Syria without preconditions, Syrian President Bashar
Assad’s senior political advisor, Bothaina Shaaban, said over the
weekend that Syria’s position on opening negotiations with Israel is
clear: Israel must first recognize Syria’s rights in the Golan Heights
and present guarantees that it will withdraw. From Syria’s standpoint,
she said, it is not a matter of preconditions but of rights that it
cannot relinquish.

At a lecture in Syria, Shaaban said the meeting between Assad and
French President Nicolas Sarkozy about 10 days ago dealt with the
peace process, the Iranian nuclear issue and Turkish relations with
Syria. She said Syria is insisting that Turkey serve as mediator in
any negotiations with Israel, and Turkey is an important country
that had a central and rational role in the indirect negotiations
with Israel. Negotiations under Turkish mediation, she said, proved
to the world that Syria wants an agreement and Israel is hindering it.