Israel sends envoys to Turkey for Syria talks

JERUSALEM (Reuters) - Top aides to Israeli Prime Minister Ehud Olmert travelled to Turkey on Sunday to resume indirect peace talks with Syria, Israeli media reported.

The television reports said the aides, Yoram Turbovitch and Shalom Turgeman, had arrived in Turkey but it was not immediately clear whether the talks had resumed.

Olmert's office declined to comment.

Israeli officials said last week that Israel favored moving to direct talks but it was unclear when that would happen. Olmert faces a growing corruption investigation that could force him from office.

Israel and Syria said last month they had launched indirect peace talks mediated by Turkish officials, the first negotiations between the two sides in eight years.

Syria wants the full return of the Golan Heights, which Israel seized from Syria in the 1967 Middle East war.

Israel says any peace deal depends on Syria distancing itself from Iran and severing ties with Lebanon's Hezbollah movement and the Palestinian Islamist group Hamas, which seized control of the Gaza Strip last June.

(Writing by Adam Entous; Editing by Dominic Evans)