Israel: Syria & Turkey Object to "Pre-conditions" on Talks

On Wednesday, Turkish Prime Minister was in Damascus again to meet Syrian President Bashar Assad. The immediate issue for the leaders was a treaty addressing the future of the water problem between their countries. The accord permits Syria to take water from the Tigris River and uniting Ankara and Damascus in construction of the "Friendship Dam" on the Asi River.

The wider issue of talks with Israel then emerged. Assad criticized the Israelis for continuing "pre-conditions" on discussions with Damascus. He said:

We discussed today the ways to bring the peace process out of the deadlock that it has reached ... because of the absence of a serious Israeli partner who aims to achieve peace.

When Israel says it wants negotiations without conditions it means it wants negotiations with no foundation. This is like having a building with no foundation, then it's very easy to be brought down and they want to bring down the peace process.

Erdogan reiterated his position that "Ankara is always ready to take responsibility" for mediation.