Prospects for war have grown: Assad

Source: Press TV
http://www.presstv.ir/detail.aspx?id=133569§ionid=351020206



Syrian President Bashar al-Assad says the current tension between Israel and Turkey has increased the possibility of war in the region.

Assad cautioned on Monday that if "relations between Israel and Turkey are not renewed, it will be very difficult for Turkey to continue its role in the [peace] negotiations," the Israeli newspaper The Jerusalem Post reported. "The chances of peace grow slim, and the prospect of war grows," he noted.

In 2008, Turkey mediated four rounds of indirect talks between Damascus and Tel Aviv. The talks stalled following the December 2008-January 2009 war on Gaza, which left over 1,400 Palestinians dead and inflicted more than $1.6 billion in damage on Gaza's economy.

Assad added that "Turkey knows the ins and outs of the Middle East," and "there was never such a significant factor as Turkey for peace talks, and the stability of the region."

Ankara's relations with Tel Aviv hit an all-time after the attack on the Freedom Flotilla in international waters in the Mediterranean Sea on May 31, which left nine Turkish citizens on board the M.V. Mavi Marmara dead.

Turkish Foreign Minister Ahmet Davutoglu said on Monday that Ankara would sever all ties with Israel if Tel Aviv did not offer a formal apology over the attack.

However, Israeli Foreign Minister Avigdor Lieberman insisted that Tel Aviv would not apologize.

Assad, Lula slam Israel Gaza policy

Syrian President Bashar al-Assad (L) and Brazil's President Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva at the Itamaraty Palace in Brasilia on June 30, 2010


Source: Press TV
http://www.presstv.ir/detail.aspx?id=132882§ionid=351020206



Brazil and Syria have condemned Israel's deadly attack on an aid convoy heading for the Gaza Strip, giving their full support to the formation of a Palestinian state.

On May 31, Israeli navy commandos stormed the blockade-busting Freedom Flotilla in international waters and killed nine civilians onboard the Turkish-flagged aid fleet.

"Blockades do not contribute to peace," said Brazilian President Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva Lula on Wednesday during his meeting with visiting Syrian leader Bashar al-Assad.

"The incident with the humanitarian fleet which was attacked in international waters showed that it's long overdue that the blockade of Gaza is lifted," Haaretz quoted him as saying.

The Syrian president, who was on his first-ever Latin American tour, also criticized Israel for frequently posing new hurdles in the way to a Middle East peace agreement.

Lula also backed the return of the Golan Heights to Syria, which has been occupied by Israel since after the six-day war of 1967, stressed that Damascus should be included in any peace initiative between Israel and the Palestinians.

On Sunday, Assad told the Brazilian newspaper Estado de S. Paulo that he would discuss the possibility of Brazil helping to convene Arab and Israeli leaders to talk and diffuse tensions arising from Tel Aviv's Gaza policy.