Turkey's Erdogan to Israel: "Syria Will Never Come to Table without Me!"

Israel-Syria-Palestine: Sarkozy the Mediator?

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On Wednesday, Turkish Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan stated that, although Israel no longer trusts Turkey to mediate talks with Syria, Damascus would not accept France as an alternative: "On this issue (of mediation), Israel's stance is that it doesn't trust us. Former Israeli prime minister Olmert trusted Turkey, but [Prime Minister Binyamin] Netanyahu doesn't trust us. That's his choice.

"Now France is trying to take up the role we had. I'm not sure what kind of stance [Syrian President] Bashar Assad will take, but from what I've heard from him, they're not going to accept something like this."

Israel-Syria-Palestine: Sarkozy the Mediator?

Middle East Talks: Netanyahu-Sarkozy Alliance To Exclude Turkey?
Syria: Assad Interview with France 2 TV

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Is French President Nicolas Sarkozy stepping in as the "honest broker" for Israel-Syria talks? In Saudi Arabia for a two-day visit, Sarkozy --- who has just met with Syrian President Bashir al-Assad and Israeli President Benjamin Netanyahu in separate meetings --- said: "The deadlock that we find ourselves in today is very worrying. I told both Assad and Netanyahu that France is ready to facilitate a restart of the talks if both parties thought we could help in this effort."

Meanwhile, French Foreign Minister Bernard Kouchner was in Amman on Tuesday for talks with Palestinian Authority leader Mahmoud Abbas. On Wednesday, he is going to Israel to hold a meeting on the prospect of peace talks.

Middle East Talks: Netanyahu-Sarkozy Alliance To Exclude Turkey?

On Friday, Syrian President Bashar al-Assad was in Paris and held a meeting with French President Nicholas Sarkozy. Assad dismissed direct talks with Israel but reiterated his country's position that "Syria is ready to talk to Israel under the mediation of Turkey." Assad said:

If Mr. Netanyahu is serious, he can send his teams of experts, we will send our teams of experts to Turkey. They can then talk, if they are really interested in peace.

Assad was trying to convert Paris's willingness to be a mediator into a stimulus to encourage Israel to start peace talks in Ankara. However, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu created trouble for Turkey. On Sunday, Netanyahu said:

Israel is prepared to hold negotiations without precondition with the Syrians. I prefer direct talks, but if [they are] with a mediator then it must be fair. The Turkish prime minister [Recep Tayyip Erdogan] has not strengthened his image as an objective, fair mediator.

If France is willing to serve as mediator, Israel would be willing.

Sarkozy is trying both to fix France's relationship with Israel and to gain a leverage by playing as a mediator in the Middle East; Assad's manoeuvres could not save Erdogan this time!  So, how are Assad and Erdogan going to behave now Sarkozy has the power to dynamize the peace talks between Israel and Palestine? The next moves are vitally important.

Turkey's Erdogan: Sudan's Darfur Policy Less "Criminal" Than Israel in Gaza

Mahmoud Abbas: “Israel Does Not Want Peace but We Do”
Israel-Palestine Video: Obama & Peres on the Path to Peace

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On Sunday, Turkish Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan offered support to Sudanese leader Omar al-Bashir and attacked Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu.

Amidst harsh criticisms of Bashir's possible arrival in Istanbul for the summit of the Organization of the Islamic Conference this week --- it was later confirmed that he would not attend --- Erdogan said he did not believe that the Sudanese President was guilty of the crimes for which he was indicted by the International Criminal Court. However, Sudanese officials have already confirmed that Bashir will not come to Istanbul.

Then, Erdogan compared the Israeli offensive in Gaza and the continuing drama in Darfur. He said, "It is not possible for those who belong to the Muslim faith to carry out genocide....If there were such a thing in Darfur, we would be chasing this to the end." He added that he "cannot discuss this [allegation for war crimes] with Netanyahu but I can easily discuss such issues with Omar al-Bashir". Erdogan stated that Israel had committed greater crimes against Palestinians.

Meanwhile, Syrian President Bashar Assad offered a caution to Erdogan earlier Sunday. He said that Turkey should maintain good relations with Israel so it could mediate Damascus-Jerusalem peace negotiations. Assad's statement is a likely reaction to the assertion of Netanyahu that "Turkey cannot be a honest broker anymore" and suggestions that countries such as Croatia and Italy could step in as a mediator.

In the Israeli newspaper Ha'aretz, Yitzhak Laor offers a provocative and supportive argument of Erdogan's position vis-a-vis Israel, stating that Israel's apartheid is worse than South Africa's. Settlements and policies of discrimination in Israel. backed by Washington, are creating a worse atmosphere for Palestinians than the past in South Africa, where black people could at least make a living.