ISTANBUL (AFP) — Israeli and Syrian officials completed a fourth round of Turkish-mediated indirect talks here on Wednesday and agreed to resume negotiations in August, a Turkish diplomat said.
"The talks were held in a constructive atmosphere," the diplomat, who asked not to be named, told AFP after the negotiations, which he said began on Monday, were wrapped up.
The two sides agreed to hold a fifth round of talks in August, again indirectly, he said.
Under the format of the talks, which started in May after an eight-year freeze, Israeli and Syrian officials do not see each other and Turkish diplomats shuttle between the two sides.
Turkish officials have said that face-to-face talks would become possible if sufficient progress is recorded.
Syria said in May that it had received an Israeli commitment for a full withdrawal from the Golan Heights, which it seized four decades ago. Israeli officials have been tight-lipped on the controversial issue.
Olmert has said Israel is willing to make "major concessions," seen as a reference to the Golan Heights, seized in the 1967 Middle East war and annexed in 1981 -- a move never recognised by the international community.
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