ANKARA - Turkey, as the mediator between Israel and Syria, has shown once again that it was a key actor in its region in 2008.
Both Israeli and Syrian governments simultaneously said that they would continue the Turkey-mediated process, which started in Istanbul in May, in a broadminded way.
Israel and Syria said that they agreed to continue the dialogue to reach a comprehensive peace deal within the framework of Madrid Conference.
The Damascus government and Israel asked Turkey to act as a facilitator for indirect talks and the Turkish government responded positively to take part in the process.
Turkish diplomats began shuttle diplomacy between the Israeli and Syrian delegations and the content of these talks were kept secret. Turkey-mediated talks were held once more in June and twice in July.
Parties had agreed to hold one more round in September, however, they failed to hold this round due to developments in Israeli domestic politics.
Although Syria voiced readiness and Israel said it would resume talks, the future of talks is still cloudy.
(TÇ-AÖ)