In TV interview, Erdogan says Turkey won't mediate Syria peace talks.
By JPOST.COM STAFFRecep Tayyip Erdogan 311(photo credit: ASSOCIATED PRESS)
Israel must apologize for its treatment of the Gaza Strip before it can continue peace talks with Syria, Turkish Prime Minister Recept Tayyip Erdogan said Monday night, in a television interview with Charlie Rose.Without apologizing for the Gaza blockade, Turkey will not continue to play a mediator role in the indirect talks, Erdogan threatened. RELATED:Erdogan bars IDF flights over TurkeyMoving on to speak of last month's IDF interception of a Gaza-bound aid flotilla, Erdogan told the US talkshow host that Israel had attacked "from the sea and from the air and there were plastic bullets used, guns used. Nine people died, eight Turkish, one a US citizen, the American citizen Furkan Dogan."He called on the US to "take ownership of the situation" because a US citizen was involved.On the Middle East peace process, Erdogan accused Prime Minister Binyamin Netanyahu's government of being "the biggest barrier to peace.""Israel hasn’t really accepted a two-state solution," the Turkish prime minister claimed.
