Israel warns against Turkish military presence in Syria

The fallout from the Israeli strike on Syria’s Abu al-Duhur airbase continues, amid an exchange of accusations between Israel and Turkey over the Turkish military presence, as reports emerge of Syrian-Israeli security contacts before the strike. Meanwhile, Damascus maintains that there are no plans to establish a Turkish base and calls for continued negotiations to reduce tensions.

In this context, Israeli Defense Minister Israel Katz said Thursday that Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan “is dragging Turkey into dangerous adventures in Syria,” stressing that Israel will “not allow any entity to threaten its security.”

Katz’s remarks came a day after Turkey strongly rejected what it described as “baseless Israeli claims” regarding the nature of its military presence in Syria, following the Israeli airstrike that targeted the Abu al-Duhur airbase near the Turkish border on Tuesday.

Syrian Foreign Minister Asaad al-Shaibani said Wednesday that Damascus had made clear to Israel that there were no plans to establish a Turkish military base at Abu al-Duhur, noting that the base is being rehabilitated for use by the Syrian Air Force.

Al-Shaibani said Turkish military personnel had visited the base as part of training and military cooperation between the two countries, denying the presence of Turkish reinforcements or deployed forces there. He added that the facility was largely empty and that work at the site had not yet begun.

In an interview with Axios, al-Shaibani said, “There is no intention to establish a Turkish base there, nor to deploy a permanent Turkish military presence or Turkish forces at the site,” adding that Israel had no legitimate justification for bombing the base.

Following the strike, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said Israel had warned Syria against allowing a Turkish military presence at the base, stressing that its message had been clear and that Damascus had been told not to proceed in that direction.

In a development indicating that the issue of the Turkish presence had been the subject of Israeli-Syrian contacts before the strike, informed sources said Israeli Mossad chief Roman Gofman held a phone call with al-Shaibani on August 14, during which they discussed the Turkish military presence in Syria, four days before the Abu al-Duhur airbase was targeted.

According to the sources, the call focused on Israeli inquiries about the expansion of the Turkish military presence and the provision of weapons and drones to the Syrian army. Another source said Gofman specifically asked about Turkish arms supplies to Syrian forces.

The contacts come as Israel grows increasingly concerned about Turkey’s expanding influence in Syria, particularly since the fall of Bashar al-Assad’s regime in late 2024, as Ankara deepens its ties with the new Syrian administration led by President Ahmed al-Sharaa.

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ANHA