Turkish PM in Syria over Israeli attacks on Gaza

Turkish Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan met Syrian President Bashar al-Assad on Wednesday as part of a four-country diplomatic push in the region to end hostilities between Israel and the Islamist group Hamas.

Their meeting centered on "the dangerous situation in the Gaza Strip because of the Israeli aggression," Syria's official SANA news agency reported.

"Turkey is deeply concerned about the human tragedy in Gaza and the spreading of violence in the Middle East," Erdogan told a news conference in Ankara before starting his trip.

"The aim of the regional tour which we are beginning today is to help in ending this dangerous development," he said.

Erdogan called for an immediate halt to the Israeli attacks on Gaza, and said "a permanent ceasefire should be urgently secured to prevent irreversible developments in the region."

Al Arabiya television said Erdogan would meet Khaled Meshaal, the exiled Hamas leader living in Damascus, but Erdogan said he had no plan to meet Hamas officials there.

An Erdogan aide told Reuters he was not aware of plans by other members of the delegation to meet Hamas leaders in Damascus.

deep disappointment

Assad on Tuesday "underlined the necessity for halting the Israeli massacres which are being committed against the unarmed Palestinian people, lifting the unjust siege on them and opening all the crossings permanently," SANA said.

Erdogan will also meet Jordan's King Abdullah II and Palestinian leader Mahmoud Abbas in the Jordanian city of Aqaba later on Wednesday.

On Thursday he will have talks with Egyptian President Hosni Mubarak in Sharm el-Sheikh and on Saturday will be in Saudia Arabia to meet King Abdullah.

Predominantly Muslim non-Arab Turkey is Israel's main regional ally but also has close ties with the Palestinians, whose plight enjoys widespread sympathy in the country.

Turkey said Monday it had suspended efforts to mediate indirect peace talks between Israel and Syria, saying that the onslaught on Gaza had led to "deep disappointment" in Ankara.

Disrespecting Turkey

Diplomats worldwide have scrambled to find a way to halt one of Israel's deadliest-ever offensives on Gaza that has so far killed at least 390 Palestinians.

Erdogan said the offensive was also "disrespect" towards Turkey, recalling that he and Israeli Prime Minister Ehud Olmert discussed peace prospects in the Middle East in Ankara just days before the Gaza operation began.

Syria and Israel -- technically still at war since the first Arab-Israeli conflict in 1948 -- have held four rounds of Turkish-mediated indirect talks since May.

Direct negotiations were halted eight years ago over the thorny issue of the Golan Heights.

Syria has held four indirect rounds of talks with Israel in Turkey this year, but these were put on hold after Olmert quit.

While still under U.S. sanctions, Syria has regained some European approval after backing a peace pact for Lebanon and forging diplomatic ties with the neighbor it once dominated.

Yet at the same time, it has kept up its longstanding alliance with Iran and support for Lebanese Hezbollah fighters and Palestinian groups such as Hamas and Islamic Jihad.