Syrian President Confirms Turkey’s Mediation Between Syria, Israel

Syrian President Bashar al-Asad revealed in an interview with a Qatari paper that Turkish Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan informed him of Israel’s reported readiness to withdraw from the Golan Heights, adding the matter would be discussed during Erdogan’s visit to Syria on 26 April.

The Syrian president was interviewed by Qatari the Al-Watan newspaper, which the paper summarized in its 24 April copy. The paper said the interview would be published in full on Sunday, 27 April.

The report begins by citing Syrian President Hafiz al-Asad as revealing, for the first time, details of the exchanged Syrian- Israeli letters that have been conveyed since April 2007 through Turkish Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan. The report then quotes Al-Asad in the interview, which was conducted in Damascus and covered many important issues, as saying: “Erdogan informed me about Israel’s readiness for a full withdrawal from the Golan Heights in return for a peace agreement with Syria.”

Al-Asad adds: “Mediations between Damascus and Tel Aviv have primarily intensified after the aggression against Lebanon in the summer of 2006 and after the resistance victory. However, the Turkish mediation since last year, specifically in April 2007, has resulted in new positive details. Olmert assured the Turkish Prime Minister that he is ready to return the Golan Heights. We received this news a week ago and immediately afterwards, we heard a statement made by Olmert in which he said that Israel is aware of what Syria wants and Syria also knows what Israel wants.”

The paper cites the Syrian president as saying: “What we need now is to find the common ground through the Turkish mediator.” However, Al-Asad stressed that “there will be no secret negotiations with Israel, but rather public negotiations in the event they are held.” Al-Asad then says: “They will not be direct negotiations; they will be held through the Turkish party. We will first discuss the issue of restoring the land to test Israeli credibility because we should be careful and precise in discussing this issue. With the next US Administration, we might later be able to talk about direct negotiations.”

Al-Asad adds that although the visit to Damascus on Saturday [26 April] by the Turkish prime minister would come within the framework of Turkish-Syrian Business Council’s meeting, we will certainly discuss this point in our talks. He adds that Israel proposed direct negotiations on the basis of different foundations, but we are not talking about this now. He says that we are talking about a Turkish role. He then says that the Turkish mediation would convey basic information and facts with a view to find a common ground that would be the starting point for launching subsequent direct negotiations. The report cites Al-Asad as indicating that the direct negotiations need a sponsor and, regrettably, this sponsor cannot be someone else other than the USA. He adds that however, this is a fait accompli. This administration does not have a vision or a will for the peace process. It has nothing, Al-Asad says.

Concluding, the report says that the comprehensive and important interview with the Syrian president touched upon many pivotal issues, including the developments in both Lebanon and Iraq. The report adds that Al-Asad has revealed many important facts, particularly with regard to the assassination of Rafiq al-Hariri and [Hezbollah's] Imad Mughniyah. He also revealed the parties that sought to foil the Damascus summit and Syria’s efforts to end the rift between Hamas and Fatah.

Originally published by Al-Watan website, Doha, in Arabic 24 Apr 08.

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