ANKARA (AFP)--Syrian Foreign Minister Walid Muallem will visit Turkey Monday for talks on Israel's deadly assault on Gaza and regional developments, the Turkish foreign ministry said.
Muallem will hold talks with his Turkish counterpart, Ali Babacan, Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan and President Abdullah Gul during his one-day stay in Ankara, a ministry statement said Sunday.
The visit follows an announcement by Babacan last Monday that it was ending efforts to organize peace talks between Israel and Syria because of the Israeli offensive in Gaza.
In May, Syria and Israel - technically still at war since the first Arab-Israeli conflict in 1948 - began Turkish-organized indirect talks after direct negotiations halted eight years ago over the thorny Golan Heights issue.
Following four rounds of negotiations, the process has been on hold since Israeli Prime Minister Ehud Olmert announced in July he would step down over corruption allegations.
Turkey, which has been Israel's main regional ally since a 1996 military agreement, has called on the Jewish state to immediately end its operation in Gaza in retaliation for Hamas rocket attacks.
Tens of thousands of Israeli troops backed by tanks battled Hamas Sunday, on the ninth day of the massive military operation, as the Palestinian death toll from the offensive passed 500.
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Publié le 04 janvier 2009 Copyright © 2009 Dowjones