Israel reportedly made it clear that the establishment of Turkish bases in central Syria’s Palmyra and elsewhere in the country is a ‘red line’
News Desk - The Cradle
This first meeting was held to avoid “unwanted incidents" in Syria, the Turkish Defense Ministry announced on Thursday, adding that Israel must stop “provocative attacks” that undermine Syrian sovereignty and territorial integrity.
"To ensure regional security, Israel must abandon its expansionist, occupying stance and the international community must prevent this unlawfulness," the ministry added.
According to Turkish Defense Ministry sources cited by Anadolu Agency (AA), "meetings with Israel will continue in the coming days to assess developments in Syria," and said that the Turkish “military presence in Syria is at the official request of the Syrian government and aims to enhance its defensive capabilities and confront terrorism."
"Talks with the Syrian side are still ongoing with the aim of establishing Turkish military training bases. Israel is targeting Türkiye with false accusations due to its adoption of aggressive foreign policy concepts," they added.
Turkish Foreign Minister Hakan Fidan announced on Wednesday, “there are technical contacts in place to prevent combat elements from misunderstanding each other.” He added that Turkiye does not attack unless provoked but will act if instability in neighboring countries poses a threat.
He dismissed the idea of US mediation, stating that further improvement of ties between Turkiye and Israel depends on Tel Aviv halting its Gaza policies, which he said are based on “civilian deaths and destruction.”
A senior Israeli official cited by Reuters and the Times of Israel also confirmed the Turkish-Israeli talks.
Israeli representatives “made it unequivocally clear that any change in the deployment of foreign forces in Syria, in particular the establishment of Turkish bases in the Palmyra (Tadmor) area, is a red line,” adding that any such activity “is the responsibility of the government in Damascus.
“Any activity that endangers Israel will threaten the rule of [Syrian President Ahmad] al-Sharaa,” it added.
The negotiations were first reported by Middle East Eye (MEE) on 7 April.
Israel recently launched several attacks on the Tiyas Air Base, also known as the T4 base, near Palmyra, the last of which took place on 2 April. Other military sites that belonged to Syria’s former army were struck, as part of Tel Aviv’s violent campaign of airstrikes against the country.
Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu reportedly informed his counterparts that Israel had a limited window to strike the T4 base before Turkey could position its assets there,” and said that “once Turkiye moved in, the base would be off-limits to Israeli operations,” according to the two western sources who spoke with MEE.
MEE had reported one day before the Israeli strikes that the Turkish military has been preparing plans to take control of the T4 airbase. Plans included the installation of air defense systems at the site.
The Israeli bombardment took place just a day before Ankara was set to deploy inspection teams to the site for an initial assessment for plans to beef up the air base, according to the report.
The Israeli Army Radio said after the attacks that the strikes were a “message” to Ankara.
“Netanyahu believes progress has been made on reaching a deconfliction agreement with Turkiye following the air strikes, and negotiations are ongoing,” the sources informed MEE.
Since the ousting of Syrian president Bashar al-Assad's government, Israel has waged a violent campaign of hundreds of airstrikes targeting sites belonging to the former Syrian military.
It has also expanded its illegal occupation in the country and taken over large swathes of southern Syria, announcing plans to remain there indefinitely and demanding a complete demilitarization of the area.
Tel Aviv has issued several warnings that any threat to it posed by Syria’s new authorities will be met with force. However, the government of Syria’s interim President Ahmad al-Sharaa – which is backed by Ankara – has repeatedly signaled that it is not looking for a confrontation with Israel.
Turkiye is looking to train the extremist-dominated armed forces of Sharaa’s government in new bases it plans to establish in the country.
The Turkish military has been illegally occupying Syria since 2016.
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