According to Israeli media reports on Tuesday, Turkish President Abdullah Gul is planning to visit Israel in early January. Gul is to meet with his Israeli counterpart Shimon Peres to discuss the Turkey-mediated negotiations between Israel and Syria. While this will be Gul's first visit as president, he has already visited Israel three times in his previous role as foreign minister. Syria and Israel recently held four rounds of indirect talks, mediated by Turkey. The talks however made no significant headway and have since been postponed. 12/09/08