WORLD> Middle East
Indirect talks between Israel, Syria to end on Thu.
(Xinhua)
Updated: 2008-07-03 00:15

ANKARA  -- The third round of indirect peace talks between Israel and Syria, mediated by Turkey, is due to end in Turkey's largest city Istanbul on Thursday, Turkish Foreign Minister Ali Babacan said on Wednesday.

"The third round of talks between Israel and Syria started in Istanbul yesterday and they will end tomorrow," Babacan told a joint news conference with visiting Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov in the Turkish capital of Ankara.

"Any tangible progress in the indirect talks, in which Turkey acts as a go-between, can lay the groundwork for direct negotiations. But talks are still at a very early stage. We believe that a progress would be made after both parties began to display political will and resolution for a solution," Babacan said.

Lavrov extended Russia's support to the Turkey-mediated talks in which the parties are negotiating over the fate of the Golan Heights.

The parties are negotiating over the fate of the Golan Heights, a strategic plateau which Israel occupied in the 1967 war and which Syrian wants it to return.