PM Erdogan due in Damascus today

Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan will visit Damascus, Syria, today to discuss issues of the Middle East at the invitation of Syrian President Bashar al-Asad. Also attending the summit will be EU Term President France's President Nicolas Sarkozy and Qatari Emir Sheikh Hamad bin Khalifa Al-Thani, who chairs the presidency of the Gulf Cooperation Council. Erdogan reportedly will speak about Turkey's role mediating peace negotiations between Israel and Syria, and will urge the French and Qatari leaders to support this initiative. Conflict between Palestine and Israel, stability in Iraq, and domestic issues in Lebanon will also be taken up at the one-day summit.