Syrian President Assad
Photo: AFP
Turkey is interested in getting senior Israeli and Syrian officials to sign a joint declaration in an upcoming meeting, which may take place in Istanbul, the London-based Arabic-language newspaper al-Hayat reported Thursday.
Turkey postponed the meeting after Damascus declared
that Israel
had agreed to fully withdraw from the Golan Heights. According to the sources, the Turkish mediator
preferred to reveal his moves only after the signing of the joint declaration.
This declaration is mean to be the first result of the secret mediation, but it appears that it is too early to be optimistic. A Syrian source has told the Egyptian newspaper al-Ahram that the negotiations can only move forward when after the Bush administration era.
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Although Turkey expressed its anger over the disclosure of the move, it showed understanding to the Syrian stance interested in verifying Prime Minister Ehud Olmert's views and examining the response on the Israeli street before entering a new and public peace adventure, and before Syrian officials are photographed with Israeli ones.
According to the sources, the Syrians were satisfied with Israel's response, as Olmert did not take back his declaration or deny it.
Meanwhile, Ankara continues to insist that the talks, which have been going on for about a year now, be kept in the dark. The sources told al-Hayat that the Turkish officials believe secrecy is the main reason for the talks' success and for the creation of trust between the parties. This is why Turkish officials refrain from discussing the issue and addressing suspicions regarding Turkey's intentions.
'No real opportunity for meeting'
The sources refused to commit that Syria would cut its ties with Hamas, Hizbullah and Iran should a peace agreement be signed, but estimated that a peace process between Israel and Syria would have to take place in addition to a process between Israel and Lebanon.A Syrian source told al-Ahram that he did not see a real opportunity to hold a meeting between Israeli and Syrian officials, due to the fact that the Bush administration still controls Washington. The source said that real negotiations between the two countries could only begin next year under a new US administration.
According to the source, Israel recently received a message from the Syrian leadership through the Turkish mediator.
The source added that the Turkish mediator was working to legitimize the road for negotiations rather than to launch them. He denied the reports that Damascus reported of the Turkish mediation in order to move the focus from the internal situation in Syria.