Turkish Foreign Minister: Türkiye doesn’t want confrontations with Israel in Syria and the Syrian administration is a close ally to us
Turkish Foreign Minister Hakan Fidan told Reuters on Friday that Türkiye doesn’t want any confrontation with Israel in Syria, after repeated Israeli attacks on military sites there undermined the new Syrian government’s ability to deter threats.
In an interview on the sidelines of a NATO foreign ministers’ meeting in Brussels, Fidan said that Israel’s actions in Syria are paving the way for future instability in the region.
The administration of Syrian President Ahmed al Sharaa is a close ally of Türkiye.
Fidan stated that if the new administration in Damascus wanted to reach certain understandings with Israel, that was its own business.
Türkiye, a NATO member, has sharply criticized Israel for its ongoing attacks on Gaza since 2023, saying they amount to genocide against Palestinians.
Türkiye has applied to join a lawsuit against Israel at the International Court of Justice and suspended all trade with it.
The hostility between the two regional powers has extended to Syria, which has been bombarded by Israeli forces for weeks since the new administration took power in Damascus. Türkiye describes the Israeli strikes as an attack on Syrian territory, while Israel says it won’t allow the presence of hostile forces in Syria.
Asked about US President Donald Trump’s threats to launch military strikes on Iran, Fidan said diplomacy was necessary to resolve the conflict and that Ankara didn’t want to see any attack on its neighbor, Iran.
