Syria rejects Spanish peace plan, Turkey threatening Assad

Syria sent a special envoy to Syria last month to try to convince Syrian President Bashar al-Assad to accept a peace plan. The plan would have included a grant of asylum for Assad and his family in Spain. Assad turned it down. Spanish Prime Minister Jose Luis Rodriguez Zapatero sent Bernardino Leon, who was at the time one of his senior aides, to Damascus in July "to propose a transition plan for

Bombshell: Turkey calls on Assad to step down

Israel Television has just reported on Turkish Foreign Minister Ahmet Davutoglu's visit to Syria on Tuesday. Neither Assad nor Syrian Foreign Minister Walid Moallem greeted Davutoglu at the airport. Davutoglu met with Assad for five hours and told him that Turkey calls on him to step down and make a peaceful transition of power.

I have not seen confirmation of this report elsewhere.

Syrian

Davutoglu sounding more and more like Nasrallah

American-based Noble Energy announced on Wednesday that it is going to begin drilling for gas off the coast of Cyprus by October 1. Noble Energy Inc. (NYSE: NBL) will begin drilling for natural gas at Cyprus's offshore Block 12 by October 1, Energy Service director Solon Kassinis told "Cyprus Mail" today.Block 12, located in Cyprus's Exclusive Economic Zone, is near Israel's Leviathan license in

Erdogan and Davutoglu expressed 'deep regret' that Turkey recognized Israel in 1948 (and more)

During the recent election campaign, Turkish Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan and Foreign Minister Ahmet Davutoglu expressed 'deep regret' that Turkey recognized the State of Israel in 1948 (Hat Tip: Joshua I). Columnist Burak Bakdil writes that while that rhetoric was over the top, and did not take Turkey's interests into account, he believes it unlikely that either Erdogan or Davutoglu

Turkey holding 'Palestinian ambassadors' conference

The Turks are working hard on 'reconciling' with Israel. Really hard. The “Palestinian Ambassadors’ Conference” will take place on 23-24 July 2011, in Istanbul with the participation of Chiefs of Mission accredited to all Palestinian Representations abroad as well as senior officials of the Palestinian Ministry of Foreign Affairs.The Conference will be inaugurated by H.E. Recep Tayyip Erdogan,