Views: 6
Israel warns Turkey that Palmyra base in Syria is ‘red line’
Israel has warned Turkey that establishment of military bases in Syria’s central Palmyra region would ‘cross a red line’ and, according to sources speaking to the Israeli media.
Israeli mediators said that any change in the deployment of Turkish forces in the country would be seen as a “dangerous infringement” on Israel’s security.
The message was delivered during a meeting between Israeli and Turkish officials in Azerbaijan on Wednesday, part of ongoing efforts to set up a coordination mechanism in Syria, according to The Jerusalem Post.
During the discussions, each side presented its interests in the region, and they agreed to continue the dialogue to maintain security and stability, the office of Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said in a statement.
Last week, it emerged that Israel had bombed three airbases in Syria that Turkey was allegedly scoping out to establish a military presence in the country as part of a defence pact.
This comes as Turkish Foreign Minister Hakan Fidan has said his country would support Syria militarily if the two countries entered into a defence pact, in comments made following Israel’s repeated bombardment of Syria and seizure of land in the southwest of the country.
Fidan told CNN Turk that if the two countries enter into a military agreement, and a situation arose that military aid was needed, Turkey was ready to provide the necessary support if requested.
Fidan also made scathing remarks about Israel’s continued bombardment and ground incursion into Syria, which has been ongoing since the fall of the regime of Bashar al-Assad regime in December 2024.
“It is unacceptable for Israel to try and provoke in Syria by using its expansionist ambitions in the region,” he was quoted by Anadolu Agency as saying, adding “we wont just sit and watch”.
Fidan also confirmed the talks between Ankara and Tel Aviv in Azerbaijan.
The talks are aimed at stopping Turkish and Israeli military forces from coming into direct contact in Syria.
While Turkey was carrying out “certain operations in Syria”, there had to be a way of heading off conflict with Israel, “which is flying its planes in that region, just as we do with the Americans and the Russians”, Fidan said.
They had “agreed to continue on the path of dialogue in order to maintain regional stability”, said the statement.
But Fidan, in his comments, said this did not mean the two sides were moving toward normalising ties strained over Israel’s war on Gaza.
Almost as soon a Syrian rebel coalition overthrew the Assad regime, Israel exploited the situation by seizing Syrian territory adjacent to the occupied Golan Heights in southwestern Syria.
Since then, it has unleashed unprecedented airstrikes on Syrian targets, killing dozens of civilians and destroying key infrastructure in the country. It has also issued numerous threats against the Syrian government, warning its security forces to stay out of the south.