MAY 21, (LPAC)--Israel and Syria, today, issued simultaneous official statements, announcing that they had resumed peace talks in Turkey. The announcement came after a year of back-channel discussions, mediated by the Turkish government.

The announcement of the talks, and the prospects of a breakthrough between the two states, which have been in conflict for 60 years, represents precisely the ``peace flank'' that Lyndon LaRouche has been aggressively advocating, since September 2007. At the time, LaRouche picked up on statements by Israeli President Shimon Peres, and Prime Minister Ehud Olmert, indicating that they were prepared to talk directly with Syria. For his part, Syrian President Bashar Assad had insisted that any talks with Israel must be open and direct. That criterion now appears to be met.

LaRouche identified the Syria-Israel peace track as an opportunity to change the dynamics in the region, and introduce an element of optimism, in a region, targeted by the British oligarchy for perpetual war and devastation. Well-informed Washington sources, involved in Middle East diplomatic and military affairs for decades have pointed out that on two previous occasions--in 1994 and 2000--Israel and Syria, with direct U.S. support, came inches away from a final peace deal, that would have returned the Golan Heights to Syria, in return for security guarantees to Israel, and joint economic ventures. One of LaRouche's points of emphasis, in promoting the prospects of a near-term Israel-Syria peace deal, was that cooperation on solving the water crisis--through nuclear-powered desalination--could greatly benefit both countries, and the region as a whole. ``Don't go for a big bang breakthrough,'' LaRouche had warned, at the time of the November 2007 Annapolis regional peace meeting. ``Build momentum through an Israel-Syria deal, and that will change things, in a way that moves the more intractable challenges closer to solution.''

Washington sources have indicated that Turkey's pivotal role as mediator of the back-channel talks, has been supported from Washington from the anti-Cheney faction inside the Bush Cabinet, led by Defense Secretary Bob Gates. According to one well-placed Pentagon source, Gates facilitated some of Turkey's recent military operations against the PKK (Kurdish Workers Party) in northern Iraq, in return for Turkey's active role in mediating between Damascus and Tel Aviv. There are reports that Qatar, that just hosted the successful peace talks on Lebanon, could also play a key role in providing financial assistance to Syria, as part of a comprehensive peace deal with Israel.

Up until very recently, the Cheney and Elliot Abrams faction in the Bush White House, has successfully blocked any Syrian-Israeli peace talks, preferring instead to push for Israeli military action against Syria--as during the July 2006 Israeli invasion of Lebanon, when Abrams, the National Security Council Middle East director, was pressing Israel to bomb Syria.