Industry, Labor and Trade Minister Benjamin Ben-Eliezer on Monday urged Turkey to resume its role as mediator in peace negotiations between Israel and Syria, a day after Foreign Minister Avigdor Lieberman said Ankara's impartiality had been canceled out by its "insults and tongue-lashing against Israel."
Ben-Eliezer, however, took an official visit to Istanbul on Monday in effort to encourage Turkey to take up mediation again in exchange for a return to more cordial relations between Israel and Turkey, according to sources in Jerusalem, Haaretz reported.
Israeli sources said over the weekend that the policy was coordinated with Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and the Foreign Ministry in advance of Ben-Eliezer's departure to Turkey on Sunday evening.
The sources say that Ben-Eliezer will stress during his visit 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."
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