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Minister of Industry, Trade and Labor, Benjamin Ben-Eliezer.
 (Daniel Bar-On)
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Lieberman: After all the insults, Turkey can't mediate Syria talks
By Ora Coren and Jack Khoury, Haaretz Correspondents, and Haaretz Service
Tags: Benjamin Ben-Eliezer 

Foreign Minister Avigdor Lieberman on Sunday said Turkey could not resume mediating Israel-Turkey peace talks, shortly before another minister, Benjamin Ben-Eliezer, was reportedly set to propose that the country did exactly that.

"Fuad's trip to Turkey is... an important trip, but has not been agreed upon by the Foreign Ministry," said Lieberman at the start of the weekly cabinet meeting, referring to the Minister of Industry, Trade and Labor by his moniker.

"After all of Turkey's insults and tongue-lashing against Israel, they can't be a mediator."
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Tensions flared between the two countries in September after Turkey banned Israel from participating in a NATO air force drill. Ankara further strained relations last week when it refused to take off the air a television drama depicts Israeli soldiers killing Palestinian children.

On Saturday, sources in Jerusalem said Ben-Eliezer was expected to propose to Turkey that it resume its mediation role in exchange for a return to more cordial relations between Israel and Turkey.

The sources said that the policy was coordinated with Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and the Foreign Ministry in advance of Ben-Eliezer's departure on an official visit to Turkey Sunday evening.

The sources say that Ben-Eliezer will stress that Israel will view Turkey as a mediator with Syria, but Turkey must first demonstrate a return to the normal relations that existed with Israel before a deterioration in ties at the beginning of the year in the wake of Operation Cast Lead in Gaza. The normalization will have to be shown through declarations and deeds, they say. Among such gestures, Ben-Eliezer will propose that Turkish President Abdullah Gul pay a visit to Israel and meet with President Shimon Peres.

In the course of Ben-Eliezer's visit, he will attempt to return economic, military, strategic and diplomatic ties to normal. The official reason for the minister's visit is the annual Turkish-Israeli economic conference. In the course of his trip, Ben-Eliezer will meet with the Turkish agriculture minister as well as the defense minister, who heads the Turkish delegation to the conference. Efforts have recently been underway to arrange a meeting with a high-level Turkish political figure. In the absence of Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan, who is abroad, a possible meeting with President Gul or with Foreign Minister Ahmet Davutoglu is being explored.

"I hope my economic and political talks will make it possible to get the important relations between Israel and its Turkish strategic partner back on track," Ben-Eliezer said, adding, "Turkey has special ties with Israel, and as a regional and democratic-Muslim power."

In the wake of Operation Cast Lead, Turkey found it difficult to restrain its criticism of Israel in the face of pro-Palestinian public opinion in Turkey. This was followed by public pressure, backed by Erdogan, to halt cooperation between Israeli and Turkish companies. Israeli tourists responded by boycotting Turkey.

In October Prime Minister Netanyahu rejected a Turkish proposal, conveyed through Spain, to resume mediation efforts with Syria. About a week later, Syria canceled Israeli participation in air force exercises in Turkey. The anti-Israel Turkish policies have been led by Prime Minister Erdogan, while President Gul is considered a pro-Israeli figure in the Turkish leadership.

In reaction to recent declarations by Netanyahu regarding his readiness to negotiate with Syria without preconditions, Syrian President Bashar Assad's senior political advisor, Buthayna Shaaban, said over the weekend that Syria's position on opening negotiations with Israel is clear: Israel must first recognize Syria's rights in the Golan Heights and present guarantees that it will withdraw. From Syria's standpoint, she said, it is not a matter of preconditions but of rights that it cannot relinquish.

At a lecture in Syria, Shaaban said the meeting between Assad and French President Nicolas Sarkozy about 10 days ago dealt with the peace process, the Iranian nuclear issue and Turkish relations with Syria. She said Syria is insisting that Turkey serve as mediator in any negotiations with Israel, and Turkey is an important country that had a central and rational role in the indirect negotiations with Israel. Negotiations under Turkish mediation, she said, proved to the world that Syria wants an agreement and Israel is hindering it.
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  1.   Turkey, A Bad Idea 02:17  |  Ron 22/11/09
  2.   Bibi `the impulsive` Netanyahu 02:38  |  Mark Lincoln 22/11/09
  3.   Israel doesn`t want to lose Turkey 02:54  |  Basil 22/11/09
  4.   We want Turkey we want Turkey we want Turkey RIGHT ??? 04:38  |  M. S. 22/11/09
  5.   I applaud Turkey for taking a stand 04:56  |  Adam 22/11/09
  6.   Turkey? Why? 05:23  |  azbob 22/11/09
  7.   It is Thanksgiving; we all want Turkey 05:36  |  David Israel 22/11/09
  8.   David Israel, rolled pork cheese/cilantro stuffed pork roast... 06:11  |  BBSNews 22/11/09
  9.   Labour Minister to bend over backwards (dangerous in turkey) 06:14  |  Ron 22/11/09
  10.   Treated like a doormat, Israel still sucks up to Turkey 06:21  |  Raymond in DC 22/11/09
  11.   MS: Try educating yourself first? 06:27  |  Jessie 22/11/09
  12.   Raymond in DC 06:46  |  linfei 22/11/09
  13.   Pre condition guaranteed return of the Golen Heights RIGHT ??? 07:19  |  m. S. 22/11/09
  14.   Politics in Turkey 07:28  |  Reid 22/11/09
  15.   It Must Be an April Fool`s Joke? 07:51  |  massaraksh 22/11/09
  16.   games again !mediate what ? 08:05  |  vhardman 22/11/09
  17.   MS go back to grade school 08:36  |  Oya 22/11/09
  18.   Shameful 10:00  |  Paul 22/11/09
  19.   @ David Israel 10:30  |  Eliade 22/11/09
  20.   Hark to the wisdom of Ben-Eliezer, not the Lieberman barking 11:24  |  Esther 22/11/09
  21.   friends? 11:36  |  al 22/11/09
  22.   "Lieberman: After all the insults, Turkey can`t mediate..." 11:43  |  Esther 22/11/09
  23.   Something amiss with the title... 11:49  |  Esther 22/11/09
  24.   "insults" 11:53  |  Sam 22/11/09
  25.   Ben Eliezar (Fuad) 11:53  |  The Teacher/Instruct 22/11/09
  26.   Israel lost self-respect through all the grovelling Esthers 11:59  |  Nemesis 22/11/09
  27.   Israel is less important than it thinks it is 12:02  |  Fritz T. 22/11/09
  28.   Israel and Turkey. 12:05  |  Stephen. 22/11/09
  29.   Leiberman is Peretz Re-Do 12:06  |  Plus! 22/11/09
  30.   Yes indeed, Eliade #15... at that time even Shabtai-Tsvi... 12:06  |  Esther 22/11/09
  31.   #.3.M.S. 12:27  |  Stephen. 22/11/09
  32.   Turkey as a mediator :Spot on Mr Lieberman 12:33  |  DT 22/11/09
  33.   Israel`s true face 12:38  |  Roo 22/11/09
  34.   #7 Raymond in D.C. 12:48  |  Jim 22/11/09
  35.   #19 Esther 12:52  |  Jim 22/11/09
  36.   Erdogan to Israel ? He`ll never accept 12:55  |  Nora Tel; Aviv 22/11/09
  37.   # 30 Roo - 13:00  |  17 22/11/09
  38.   Turkey can mediate just as US/Tukey both 13:02  |  Diana Humdun 22/11/09
  39.   Good for many countries to stand straight 13:05  |  Izik 22/11/09
  40.   Fritz T "What has Israel contributed to the world?" 13:11  |  17 22/11/09
  41.   Normalization.! ! ! ! 13:16  |  Achmet 22/11/09
  42.   #34 jim raves and rants unfortunately 13:20  |  vhardman 22/11/09
  43.   Nora 36.# ERDOGAN is a man noy a Puppet 13:22  |  Suleyman 22/11/09
  44.   # 41 Achmet " ... just superiority complex?" 13:33  |  17 22/11/09
  45.   Right on Lieberman! Israel show self-respect! 13:33  |  Kenny 22/11/09
  46.   Israel trying to play global censor 13:43  |  Labhras 22/11/09
  47.   Syria and Turkey can talk to each other. 13:44  |  Petra 22/11/09
  48.   Turkey today is not in the position of mediating 13:44  |  mehmet 22/11/09
  49.   #38 Diana Humdun 13:45  |  Jim 22/11/09
  50.   Lieberman the voice of sanity 13:49  |  Jay 22/11/09
  51.   fritz Z. Are you serious? 13:50  |  Petra 22/11/09
  52.   Eliade turkish Saviors? Tell the Armenians. 13:54  |  Petra 22/11/09
  53.   Amazing Leibermen is one of the few non kiss ups 13:59  |  Lin fei 22/11/09
  54.   #40 17 14:06  |  Jim 22/11/09
  55.   Israel is getting ISOLATED 14:10  |  John 22/11/09
  56.   : mehmet 14:12  |  lin fei 22/11/09
  57.   Lieberman is a nutjob 14:15  |  Chris Linthwaite 22/11/09
  58.   # 54 Jim/Murfreesboro - Just to help 14:29  |  17 22/11/09
  59.   Cant be more correct 14:33  |  syrian opinion 22/11/09
  60.   the teacher/instructor 25 14:39  |  potobac 22/11/09
  61.   #48 mehmet 14:41  |  Jim 22/11/09
  62.   Trusting Tukey ? Ask the Armenians ! 14:43  |  Alain 22/11/09
  63.   17 #58 14:46  |  potobac 22/11/09
  64.   lieberman 14:52  |  flora 22/11/09
  65.   #55 where have you been for the last 60 years john 15:01  |  vhardman 22/11/09
  66.   Talk is cheap Roo 15:33  |  Peter Williams 22/11/09
  67.   BBS News - Thanksgiving Turkey 15:34  |  Jane 22/11/09
  68.   # 60 potobac 16:33  |  The Teacher/Instruct 22/11/09
  69.   Syria, Iraq and Turkey 16:47  |  Anonymous 22/11/09
  70.   Antisemitism and Haaretz posters 17:05  |  Anonymous 22/11/09
  71.   #4 and #11 M.S. and Jessie 17:08  |  Maurice 22/11/09
  72.   What a joker 17:11  |  jake 1948 22/11/09
  73.   #17 -Oya 17:13  |  Maurice 22/11/09
  74.   Turkish Mediation 17:17  |  Louis Fried 22/11/09
  75.   #48 - Mehmet: 17:23  |  Maurice 22/11/09
  76.   I Do not want Turkey to get involved 18:27  |  New Yorker 22/11/09
  77.   turkey has chosen the wrong path.It has aligned itself with Iran/ 19:11  |  ks 22/11/09
  78.   Turkish NY er from Buffalo 19:23  |  David israel 22/11/09
  79.   #76 What happened? 19:40  |  someone 22/11/09
  80.   # 63 potobac re: Comparison 20:29  |  17 22/11/09
  81.   Fritz T, each time you use your telephone... 20:38  |  MarkC 22/11/09
  82.   the teacher/instructor 68 21:03  |  potobac 22/11/09
  83.   We do not want Turkey to involvein peace talks 21:29  |  A 22/11/09
  84.   Tell Syria to.... 21:50  |  Rubicon 22/11/09
  85.   #80 17 so we agree --Israel is an ethnocracy 22:02  |  Labhras 22/11/09
  86.   Peter Williams #65 22:08  |  Roo 22/11/09
  87.   future of Turkey-Israel relations 23:55  |  mehmet 22/11/09
  88.   Turkey 00:42  |  Amos 23/11/09
  89.   17 #80 01:33  |  potobac 23/11/09
  90.   listen to the greatest FM the world has seen 03:20  |  michael 23/11/09
  91.   Israel with self-respect doesn`t need Turkey 04:04  |  Ilan 23/11/09
  92.   Find a New Place to Vacation 04:26  |  Steve of Mevaserret 23/11/09
  93.   Turkey`s no risk approach will backfire 09:01  |  Miron 23/11/09
  94.   thank you jessie 09:47  |  suleyman 23/11/09
  95.   LIBERMAN states the obvious.Islamist Edrogan HAS disqualified 09:48  |  PETER SM 23/11/09
  96.   Peter Williams. What`s the problem? #65 09:49  |  Roo 23/11/09
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