As tensions have been running high between Türkiye and Israel on the Syrian front, Foreign Minister Hakan Fidan said on Friday that Tel Aviv’s actions in the war-torn country risk future regional instability.
In an interview with Reuters on the sidelines of a meeting of NATO foreign ministers in Brussels, Fidan said Ankara does not aim for confrontation with Tel Aviv.
If the new administration in Damascus wants to have “certain understandings” with Israel, which, like Türkiye, is a neighbor of Syria, then that is their own business, he added.
NATO member Türkiye has fiercely criticized Israel over its attacks on Gaza since 2023, saying they amount to a genocide against the Palestinians, and has applied to join a case at the World Court against Israel while also halting all trade.
Israel denies the genocide accusations.
The animosity between the regional powers has spilled over into Syria, with Israeli forces striking Syria for weeks since a new administration took control in Damascus. Türkiye has called the Israeli strikes an encroachment on Syrian territories, while Israel has said it would not allow any “hostile” forces in Syria.
A day earlier, the Foreign Ministry strongly condemned Israel, calling it the biggest threat to peace and stability in the region through its aggressive and expansionist policies, saying that it “feeds” on conflict.
The ministry condemned recent provocative remarks by Israeli ministers targeting Türkiye, saying such rhetoric reflects not only their current state of mind but also the extremist and racist nature of the Israeli government.
The ministry also criticized Israel’s air and ground assaults on multiple locations in Syria on April 2, stating there had been no provocation or threat against Israel from Syrian territory.
“Israel’s simultaneous air and ground attacks on several locations last night (April 2), despite the absence of any provocation or attack against it from Syrian territory, can only be explained by Israel’s foreign policy approach that feeds on conflict,” the statement said.
The ministry questioned why recent developments in Syria and Lebanon – which offer hope for peace, stability and prosperity in the region and have been welcomed by the international community – would disturb Israel.
Ankara said Israeli ministers could not deflect attention from their country’s “genocide in Gaza, total war against the Palestinian people, settler terrorism, annexation plans for the West Bank, and expansionist ambitions behind attacks on Syria and Lebanon” by targeting Türkiye.
“Israel has become the foremost threat to the security of our region through its attacks on the territorial integrity and national unity of the regional countries. As a strategic destabilizer in the region, Israel causes turmoil and fuels terrorism,” the statement added.
Ankara’s words come after Israeli Foreign Minister Gideon Saar accused Türkiye of playing a “negative role in Syria.” The claims came amid reports that Ankara was moving to station jets and air defenses at Syrian air bases. A Syrian source told Agence France-Presse (AFP) the T4 air base was coveted by Türkiye.
The ministry urged Israel to end its expansionist policies, withdraw from occupied territories, and stop obstructing efforts to restore stability in Syria.
Similarly, U.N. envoy for Syria Geir Pedersen decried “the repeated and intensifying military escalations by Israel in Syria, including airstrikes that have reportedly resulted in civilian casualties.”
“Such actions undermine efforts to build a new Syria at peace with itself and the region, and destabilize Syria at a sensitive time,” he said in a statement.
Calling on the international community to act, the ministry emphasized the urgent need for global responsibility in curbing Israel’s increasingly brazen aggression.
Israel has carried out an extensive bombing campaign against Syrian military assets since an anti-regime alliance toppled longtime dictator Bashar Assad in November. It has also carried out ground incursions into southern Syria in a bid to keep the forces of the new government back from the border.
Tensions have been running high between Türkiye and Israel in Syria as the latter continues attacks on the war-torn country just as Damascus is trying to achieve stability.
Ankara has often criticized Israel for its actions in Syria, which drive instability.