Assad to Turkey & Medvedev to Syria & Turkey ...

Interesting waltz ... The world moves beyond Dennis Ross at ADL, Jeffrey Feltman & the sanctions & the accusations & threats of that colony inhabited by evil leprechauns

Hurriyet/ here

"... Syrian President Bashar al-Assad will visit Turkey at the weekend for talks on bilateral ties and prospects of regional peace... Al-Assad's visit coincides with tensions over Israeli accusations that Syria is supplying long-range Scud missiles to the Lebanese militant group Hezbollah, a charge Damascus has strongly denied.

Meanwhile, President Dmitry Medvedev will travel to Syria on Monday to tighten ties with the Soviet-era ally on the first ever visit to the country by a Russian or Soviet head of state. With Russia promoting itself as a major power in the Middle East, Medvedev will follow up the two-day Syria visit with a Turkey stopover for talks with the Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdoğan.

Accompanied by a large business delegation, Medvedev was set to meet President Bashar al-Assad and possibly oversee the signing of an economic agreement, a spokesman at the Russian embassy in Damascus told AFP. "We are seeking to recover lost ground with old friends," the spokesman said, speaking on condition of anonymity. Medvedev's visit comes days after Washington renewed U.S. sanctions on Syria for a year, accusing it and Iran of supporting "terrorist" groups.

Analysts said sanctions against Iran and U.S. pressure on Syria would most certainly be a major subject of talks between Medvedev and al-Assad. "Russia will seek to reduce pressure around Syria," said Alexander Shumilin, head of the Middle East Conflicts Analysis Center at Russia's U.S. and Canada Institute.

The visit, analysts added, will be a chance for Russia to thumb its nose at the United States. "It will be one more excuse to demonstrate that we talk to whoever we want to talk," said Alexei Malashenko, an analyst with the Carnegie Moscow Center...."