By JPOST.COM STAFF
Foreign Minister Avigdor Lieberman said Sunday that he will not agree to Turkish mediation in any future negotiations with Syria.
"If the Syrians want to talk, let them talk to us only in a face-to-face meeting," he said.
Speaking to a gathering of ambassadors at the Foreign Ministry in Jerusalem, Lieberman added that "all sorts of peripheral government sources have hinted that there is a place for Turkish mediation. They can forget about it."
Lieberman continued to say that beginning in 2010, there will be no "secret diplomacy" and that "whoever wants to meet with us can do so without a veil of secrecy. We're not outcasts… everything will be done in a transparent manner."
Regarding a renewal of negotiations with the Palestinians Lieberman said that there is no chance in the near future for a final, comprehensive resolution.
The foreign minister went on to expound on recent developments in the Middle East.
"We continue to think that if we make more concessions, that everything will work out," he said, "yet, even if we return to the 1967 borders, and divide Jerusalem, nothing will change and we will remain in the same current situation."
Lieberman leveled a harsh criticism at the Palestinian leadership, saying that not only does it not represent the Palestinian people, but this leadership will never agree to end the struggle against Israel.
"Israel has proven that, more than any other nation, it is ready to make painful concessions." the foreign minister said. "We allowed in a gang of terrorists from Tunis, gave them weapons, and the means to govern, going so far as to relinquish Gush Katif."
"The other side is not ready to sign a peace agreement whose meaning would be the end of the conflict… it doesn't matter what we offer, they will always find a reason not to agree."
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