http://www.haaretz.com/hasen/spages/1069215.html
U.S. Secretary of State Hillary Clinton posing with Turkish Foreign Minister Ali Babacan before a meeting on Saturday in Ankara. (Reuters) Last update - 21:27 07/03/2009 Turkey: We're ready to relaunch Israel-Syria talks By Natasha Mozgovaya, Haaretz U.S. Correspondent and Agencies Tags: Israel News, Syria Turkish Foreign Minister Ali Babacan on Saturday said his country was ready to relaunch indirect Israel-Syria peace talks if there was a request from both sides. Syria formally suspended the Turkish-mediated indirect talks last year during Israel's offensive against Hamas in Gaza, but Syrian officials have not ruled out their resumption, even if a right-wing government is formed in Israel. Babacan made the comments at a news conference with United States Secretary of State Hillary Clinton, who stressed the importance of Syria's indirect peace contacts with Israel. "The importance of this track, the peace effort, cannot be overstated," said Clinton during a brief visit to Ankara. Praising Turkey's mediation between Syria and Israel in the negotiations, she said: "Turkey has played a very important role." Clinton also said Washington had not taken a decision yet on whether to send an envoy back to Damascus. Washington withdrew its ambassador and stepped up sanctions against Damascus after the assassination of former Lebanese prime minister, Rafik al-Hariri, in February 2005. President Barack Obama has been reviewing U.S. policy toward Syria, including whether to return an ambassador to Damascus. "We have not decided on any next steps," Clinton said. She also announced that Obama will visit Turkey soon, making the Muslim nation bridging East and West one of the first foreign visits of his presidency. U.S. envoy holds 'constructive' talks with Syrians A senior U.S. envoy visiting Syria on Saturday as part of the Obama administration's effort to thaw relations between the two countries said he held very constructive talks with Syrian officials and expressed hope for future progress. Damascus has also signaled it is interested in better relations, but both sides remain cautious over whether they can surmount their key differences, including Syria's backing for militants and its alliance with Iran. "This is a very constructive discussion point," said Jeffrey Feltman, the top U.S. State Department envoy to the Mideast, who was visiting Damascus with Daniel Shapiro from the White House. "We look forward to making progress in achieving results in the bilateral relationship and in terms of regional issues," said Feltman after the two met with Syrian Foreign Minister Walid Moallem. America has long wanted Syria to drop support for militant groups Hezbollah and Hamas that have undermined Mideast peace efforts. The U.S. also hopes to peel Syria away from its alliance with Iran and would welcome Syrian help on Iraq, Lebanon and inter-Palestinian reconciliation. The Syrians want a strong American hand in Mideast peacemaking to regain territory they lost to Israel in the 1967 Six-Day War. Improvement in bilateral ties also could result in easing economic and diplomatic sanctions imposed by Washington. In reference to the stalled Israeli-Syrian peace talks, Feltman said the U.S. wished to see a "comprehensive peace" that would involve the entire Mideast. "Comprehensive peace means a peace between Israel and all of its neighbors and it means there will be an Israeli-Syrian track at some point," he said. "At this point we need to be a bit patient, let the government formation in Israel to play itself out." The Obama administration's decision to send Feltman and Shapiro to Syria was the most significant sign yet that it is ready to improve relations with the Syrian government after years of tension. But U.S. Secretary of State Hillary Rodham Clinton said the envoys were sent for preliminary conversations when she announced the visit earlier this week and played down expected results from the diplomatic push. "We have no way to predict what the future with our relations concerning Syria might be," Clinton said in Jerusalem Tuesday. The U.S. withdrew its ambassador to Syria in 2005 following the assassination of former Lebanese Prime Minister Rafik Hariri in Beirut. The killing was widely blamed on Syria - a charge Damascus denies. On the Syrian side, Syrian President Bashar Assad has welcomed improved ties, something he has long sought but was hampered by the Bush administration's attempts to isolate his country. Assad has said he is impressed by Obama's friendly gestures but was still waiting to see results. The Americans are signaling they, too, want to see results. Speaking in Lebanon, Feltman on Friday explained that engaging Syria "is a tool of our diplomacy and not a reward." He told reporters that the U.S. has a long list of bilateral and regional concerns with Syria. "The trip is an opportunity for us to start addressing these concerns and using engagement as a tool to promote our objectives in the region," he said. Imad Mustapha, Syria's ambassador to Washington, said during a telephone interview from Washington that he noticed a change in the Americans' tone in his recent meeting with Feltman in the U.S. capital. "They've given up on the idea of Syria has to do this and that," he said, characterizing current discussions as an in-depth exploratory dialogue by the Americans after the failure of their past policies. It's not clear when the dialogue will start to yield results. U.S. Sen. John Kerry, the chairman of the Senate Foreign Relations Committee who last month met with Assad in Damascus, proposed this week that the United States provide financial incentives to encourage Syria to make peace with Israel. He said it benefits Syria if Assad looks west for new relationships and added that sanctions can always be tightened again if Syria backtracks. U.S. sanctions have idled some Syrian passenger jets for lack of spare parts, stifled bank transfers and technology imports. The West also needs Syria. Syria wields influence with militant Palestinian and Lebanese factions sworn to the destruction of Israel that have held up Mideast peace efforts. Syria has rejected calls to drop its support, arguing a comprehensive peace would remove the need for the groups' militant activity. For Syria, comprehensive peace must include a return of the Golan Heights that Israel captured in the 1967 Six Day War. Syria has held indirect peace talks with Israel through Turkish mediation last year, but Damascus has insisted U.S. mediation is key to achieving peace. Washington also needs Syria to prevent anti-American Islamic militants from crossing its border into Iraq - something the U.S. has accused Damascus of failing to do in the past. The U.S. would also like to peel Syria away from its ally Iran, which Washington accuses of supporting Shiite militias in Iraq and pursuing a nuclear program to develop weapons - charges Tehran denies. Isolating Iran in this way would strengthen America's hand, but Syria has so far rejected abandoning its ally and has said it can mediate between the Islamic state and the West over the country's nuclear program. [Non-text portions of this message have been removed]
