JERUSALEM - Israel and Syria on Wednesday said they were holding indirect peace talks through Turkish mediators — the first official confirmation of contacts between the longtime enemies.

In statements issued minutes apart, the two governments said they "have declared their intent to conduct these talks in good faith and with an open mind," with a goal of reaching "a comprehensive peace."

Both nations thanked Turkey for its help, and Turkey issued its own confirmation. Muslim Turkey has good ties with both Israel and Syria.

Story continues below ↓

advertisement | your ad here

There have been reports in recent months of new Israeli-Syrian contacts through Turkey, and Turkey's foreign minister said earlier this month that his country was trying to bring the sides together. But this was the first official confirmation that contacts have resumed.

Israel and Syria have officially been at war since Israel's creation 60 years ago.

U.S. officials said Israel and Turkey had notified them of the indirect talks.

"We do not object to this... We'll see how this progresses," White House Press Secretary Dana Perino said Wednesday.

Asked how the talks squared with President Bush's speech last week before Israel's Knesset in which he called negotiations with "terrorists and radicals" a "foolish delusion," Perino said one of the goals of the Turkish-mediated talks was cutting Syria's support for Hezbollah and Hamas.

An Israeli government official said Olmert's chief of staff and diplomatic adviser have been in Turkey since Monday. "In parallel their Syrian counterparts are in Turkey as well," the official said, speaking on condition of anonymity because of the sensitive nature of the talks. He declined to discuss the substance of the talks.

But one senior Israeli official, an expert on relations with Syria, predicted there was a "very long process" ahead. "The direct talks themselves have not yet started," the source said.

Bloody history
Israel and Syria are bitter enemies whose attempts at reaching peace have repeatedly failed, most recently in 2000. The nations have fought three wars, and their forces have also clashed in Lebanon.

Peace with Syria would require Israel to withdraw from the Golan Heights, a strategic plateau Israel captured in the 1967 Mideast war and later annexed. Today, the heights are home to 18,000 Israelis and roughly the same number of Druse Arabs who regard themselves as Syrian nationals. Syrian and Israeli forces are separated by U.N. peacekeepers.

A committee representing Israeli settlers on the Golan said Olmert's move "put the State of Israel's survival at risk."

Settlers: 'Irresponsible move'
"The people of Israel will not support such a deluded and irresponsible move, which would hand over such a vital Israeli strategic asset to the Arab axis of evil," the Golan Residents Council said.

Israelis generally regard the Golan as an important buffer against Syrian attack.

A Golan withdrawal would be extremely controversial among Israelis, and it could be difficult for a weakened leader like Olmert, whose already low popularity has been battered by a recent corruption investigation, to win public support for such a move. Peace talks with Syria also could divert attention from newly relaunched Israeli-Palestinian peace talks, which aim to reach an agreement by the end of the year.

Palestinian negotiator Saeb Erekat said the Palestinians welcomed the latest news. "We want to reach a comprehensive peace and therefore we support talks between Israel and Syria," he said.

Demands dropped?
Israel, meanwhile, has demanded that Syria — which offers refuge to militant groups like Hamas and Islamic Jihad and supports the Lebanese Shiite group Hezbollah — distance itself from them, and from its Iranian ally, as a condition for talks. That condition appears to have been dropped.

Last September, Israeli warplanes carried out an attack on Syria, targeting an installation that the U.S. has said was an unfinished nuclear reactor built by North Korea. And in February, a top Hezbollah commander was assassinated in the Syrian capital in an attack widely assumed to have been engineered by Israel.

CONTINUED : Talks broke down over Golan

1 | 2 | Next >

Discuss Story On Newsvine
Rate Story:
View popularLowHigh
Email
Instant Message
Print