By Xinhua,
Damascus : Turkish Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan paid an one-day visit to Damascus on Saturday in an effort to mediate between Syria and Israel to revive peace talks.
Before leaving Damascus, Erdogan told reporters that Syria and Israel had asked Ankara for mediation and that such efforts would start at a low level and then bring the leaders together if successful.
Turkey would make whatever efforts it can on this issue, Erdogan said, adding that Ankara would send an envoy to Israel. But he did not say who the envoy was or when the visit would take place.
Earlier in the day, Erdogan held talks with Syrian President Bashar al-Assad on activation of the Middle East peace process in addition to bilateral ties, according to Syria’s official SANA news agency.
The two leaders discussed “ways of activating a just and comprehensive peace process,” SANA said, adding Assad praised efforts made by Turkey in this regard.
Assad also expressed Syria’s readiness to “continue cooperation with Turkey in all what serves security and stability of the region,” SANA said, without revealing any more details.
For his part, Erdogan expressed his “deep satisfaction over the outcome of the positive and fruitful” talks with Assad, stressing the importance of Syria’s role in finding political solutions to the existing issues in the region.
During the talks, both sides agreed to continue consultation and coordination between the two countries regarding the issues raised at various levels.
The two leaders also discussed the latest developments in the region, particularly in Iraq, Lebanon and the Palestinian territories, as well as the bilateral relations of cooperation between Syria and Turkey, particularly in the economic field.
During his stay in Damascus, Erdogan also opened the first Syrian-Turkey economic forum together with his Syrian counterpart Mohammad Naji Ottri.
Erdogan arrived here earlier on Saturday, whose visit to Syria raised much attention from outside world following an announcement of Assad earlier this week that Turkey has been mediating between Syria and Israel since last year.
Ankara has recently passed a message from the Jewish state expressing a readiness to withdraw from the Golan Heights in return for peace, Assad told the Qatari daily Al-Watan in an interview published on Thursday, adding “what we now need is to find common ground through the Turkish mediator.”
Last Sunday, Assad confirmed indirect contact with Israel through an anonymous third party to explore the possibility of resuming peace talks.
The Syrian president also denied secret talks with Israel, saying “what Syria could do in this regard will be announced to the public and the only criterion to accept any talks is to be serious and committed to UN resolutions.”
Peace talks between Syria and Israel, still technically at war with each other, foundered in 2000 due to the dispute over the fate of the strategic Golan Heights, which was occupied by the Jewish state in the 1967 Middle East war.
The Syrian government has insisted that peace talks can be resumed only on the basis that Israel return the Golan.
Israel, for its part, has demanded that Syria abandon its support for Palestinian and Lebanese militant groups.