Azerbaijan, Baku, 21 May / corr Trend R.Abdullayev, R.Hafizoglu / On 20 May, Israel and Syria have restored the peace talks for the first time after the occupation of Holan heights by Israel in 1967. Turkey is mediating in the talks.
Al-Jazeera television reported about it on 21 May citing Israeli Premier Ehud Olmert's Press Secretariat.
Eddi Shapira, a spokesman for the Israeli Foreign Ministry, confirmed Trend about the reports on establishment of the Israeli-Syrian talks, but did not go into details.
Namig Tan, the Turkish Ambassador to Israel, also confirmed the Trend reports on establishment of the Israeli-Syrian talks, which has been through the mediation of Ankara.
According to Syrian news agency SANA, the Foreign Ministry of Syria has also confirmed the news on rehabilitation of bilateral peace talks.
Syrian President Bashshar Asad stated to a news conference on 25 April that since 27 April 2007 Turkey has been a mediator in the negotiation process between Israel and Syria.
In his interview for Qatar's Al-Vatan news agency on 26 April the Syrian President said that in a meeting with Turkish Prime Minister Erdogan, the Israeli side stated its readiness to return the Holan heights to Syria.
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