Turkey closely following Russia-Syria arms deal

ANKARA -- Turkey is closely following negotiations for a Russian arms sale to Syria.

Officials said Moscow wants to sell weapons to Damascus as part of Russia's strategy to counterbalance Turkey's position in the Middle East. They said Moscow has sold weapons to all of Turkey's neighbors, including Iraq and Iran.

Turkish diplomats in Moscow and other capitals have gathered information of the sort of weapons Syria wants to purchase. Reports from Moscow said Syrian President Hafez Assad in his visit this week discussed the purchases of such systems as the S-300 anti-aircraft system, the Sukhoi-27 and T-80 tanks.

Turkish Foreign Ministry Deputy Spokesman Sermet Atacanli said Assad's trip to Moscow was an issue for Russia and Syria. "But we will make the necessary evaluation of its likely results and its impact on the region," Atacanli said.

Turkish officials said they doubted that a Syrian arms deal would significantly change the strategic balance in the region.

In Damascus, the Syrian media officials have expressed optimism over the possibility of resuming the peace negotiations with Israel. The Syrian-language Syrian Times wrote on Thursday that the government of Prime Minister Ehud Barak has the capability of achieving a watershed in the Middle East peace process.

The newspaper said Barak has a mandate from his people to implement United Nations Security Council resolutions and apply the principle of land-for-peace. The Syrian Times is part of the official Syrian press.

In Tel Aviv, Israel's military intelligence chief Maj.-Gen. Amos Malka told the army magazine Bamahane that Assad in recent weeks has expressed a greater desire to reach a settlement with Israel in the forseeable future. Malka said Syria demonstrated this intention when it ordered Hizbullah not to respond to Israeli air attacks on Lebanon last month.