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Turkish Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan met Syrian President Bashar al-Assad on Wednesday on the first stop of a regional tour focusing on Israel's deadly onslaught on Gaza. Their meeting centered on "the dangerous situation in the Gaza Strip because of the Israeli aggression," Syria's official SANA news agency reported.Before leaving Ankara the Turkish premier said he was "deeply concerned over the developments in Gaza since this ruthless operation began on Saturday. The objective of my tour is to help stop these dangerous developments."Erdogan called for an immediate halt to the Israeli attacks on Gaza, and said "a permanent ceasefire should be urgently secured to prevent irreversible developments in the region."Assad on Tuesday "underlined the necessity for halting the Israeli massacres which are being committed against the unarmed Palestinian people, lifting the unjust siege on them and opening all the crossings permanently," SANA said.Erdogan will also meet Jordan's King Abdullah II and Palestinian leader Mahmud Abbas in the Jordanian city of Aqaba later on Wednesday.On Thursday he will have talks with Egyptian President Hosni Mubarak in Sharm el-Sheikh and on Saturday will be in Saudia Arabia to meet King Abdullah.Predominantly Muslim non-Arab Turkey is Israel's main regional ally but also has close ties with the Palestinians, whose plight enjoys widespread sympathy in the country.Turkey said Monday it had suspended efforts to mediate indirect peace talks between Israel and Syria, saying that the onslaught on Gaza had led to "deep disappointment" in Ankara.Diplomats worldwide have scrambled to find a way to halt one of Israel's deadliest-ever offensives on Gaza that has so far killed at least 390 Palestinians. Erdogan said in Ankara he had not scheduled meetings with Israeli leaders or representatives of the Islamist Hamas movement which controls Gaza. Rocket and mortar attacks on southern Israel sparked the bombardment of the enclave.Erdogan said the offensive was also "disrespect" towards Turkey, recalling that he and Israeli Prime Minister Ehud Olmert discussed peace prospects in the Middle East in Ankara just days before the Gaza operation began.Syria and Israel-technically still at war since the first Arab-Israeli conflict in 1948-have held four rounds of Turkish-mediated indirect talks since May.Direct negotiations were halted eight years ago over the thorny issue of the Golan Heights.http://www.breitbart.com/article.php?id=081231141622.xbppoxvi&show_article=1
As in the days of Noah...
