Syrian President Bashar Assad has underlined the importance of Turkish mediation in efforts to forge peace with archenemy Israel, saying his country had full confidence in Ankara because it has proved that it is a reliable partner.

“Turkey's role is important because we have trust in Turkey,” Assad told Today's Zaman in Damascus on Saturday, after talks with visiting Turkish President Abdullah Gül.
“Turkey is independent, objective and realistic, and if there are other countries trying to act as mediators, they must have these characteristics, too,” Assad stated, when asked to comment on the willingness of other countries, such as France, to get involved in Syrian-Israeli peace efforts.
The Syrian president said the Turkish Parliament's refusal to cooperate militarily with the U.S. in the Iraq war in 2003 was a turning point, changing the perception in Syria that Turkey cannot make independent decisions.
Turkish-Syrian ties have evolved from hostility to cooperation in the political and economic fields since 2002. Turkey mediated peace talks between Syria and Israel in 2008, but the process was put on hold after Israel launched a deadly operation in Gaza in late December. Syria now says it is ready to resume peace talks but is also pessimistic because, it says, the Israeli government is not willing to make any concessions.
Assad also rejected in the interview U.S. accusations that Syria is supporting terrorism in the Middle East. “One should ask this question: What interest does Syria have in supporting terrorism? If they mean the resistance in Palestine and Lebanon, we do support that. This resistance has people's support and we support the people, not terrorism,” he said.
Syria has called on the U.S. to have a dialogue with Hezbollah in Lebanon and Hamas in Palestine, but the U.S. dismisses the call, urging Damascus to cut ties with them.
U.S. administration officials and members of Congress have paid separate visits to Damascus in past months as part of the U.S. administration's policy of seeking a dialogue with Syria. But Assad said there was no agreement emerging in talks with U.S. officials over the definition of terrorism because “they consider everyone who does not agree with their policies to be terrorists.”
Asked about Internet restrictions in Syria, Assad denied there were bans, citing “technical matters” for the limitation of access to certain popular Internet sites in the country.
(Source: todayszaman.com)