French President Nicolas Sarkozy tried to take on a role of Turkey, acting as a mediator in Syrian-Israeli relations in the course of the meeting of both states’ leaders in Paris, Turkish Zaman daily reports.

However, according to the source Bashar Assad opposed the idea, insisting on Turkish mediation.

“The last direct talks stalled in 2000 in a dispute over how much of the Golan Heights, which Israel captured in the 1967 war, should be returned to Syria. Peace efforts restarted in 2007 under Turkish auspices, and Turkey facilitated several rounds of indirect peace talks between Syria and Israel. Yet, soon after the start of the Gaza offensive, Syria said it had suspended talks with Israel, and then-Turkish Foreign Minister Ali Babacan said it was not possible to continue with peace efforts on the Israeli-Syrian track while war raged on along the Israeli-Palestinian track,” the daily reads.

Zaman quotes Syrian President who stated that, “If Mr. Netanyahu is serious, he can send his teams of experts, we will send our teams of experts to Turkey. They can then talk, if they are really interested in peace.”