Turkey has lashed out at Israel’s "aggressive policies" in the Middle East, saying Ankara would not idly watch the regime’s violence against the Palestinians.

Turkish Foreign Minister Ahmet Davutoglu said Tuesday that Ankara "will not remain silent on Israel’s attacks on innocent Palestinian people."

"If it (Israel) adopts aggressive policies, then Turkey will respond to this," Davutoglu said in an interview with the pan-Arab daily Al-Hayat.

The Turkish minister, however, said if Tel Aviv chooses to follow the "path of peace and negotiations" then Ankara will be glad to help in achieving peace.

Davutoglu also urged Israel to start indirect peace talks with Syria.

"What counts for us is the motive and not the relationship itself. If the aim is peace, then we will preserve good relations with any side," the Turkish official added.

Israel has recently made new allegations against Syria, charging that Damascus supplies Lebanon’s Hezbollah resistance movement with scud missiles.

Syria, however, denied the allegation, describing the claim as part of efforts to instigate tensions in the region.

Ankara acted as mediator in preliminary peace talks between Israel and Syria in 2008. The negotiations, however, were broken off on December 2008 when Israel launched its three-week offensive on the Gaza Strip.

Relations between Israel and Turkey worsened after Turkish Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan publicly slammed Israel over its incursion into Gaza and charged the regime with committing "barbarian" acts against civilians.

(Press TV)