Israeli Official: Establishing Turkish bases in Syria's Palmyra a red line

An official Israeli source revealed that yesterday's meeting between representatives from Israel and Turkey in Azerbaijan made Tel Aviv "unequivocally clear that any change in the deployment of foreign forces in Syria, especially the establishment of Turkish bases in the Palmyra area—is a red line and will be considered a breach of trust."

The source added in statements today that "Israel has made it clear in the past that preventing this threat is the responsibility of the government in Damascus," according to Israeli media reports.

He also added that "any action that would endanger Israel would endanger Ahmed al-Sharaa's rule."

Earlier today, sources in the Turkish Ministry of Defense commented on the existence of a "de-escalation" mechanism between Turkey and Israel in Syria, saying, "The first technical meeting was held in Azerbaijan yesterday to establish a de-escalation mechanism to avoid unwanted incidents," adding that "efforts will continue to establish a de-escalation mechanism."

This came after Turkish Foreign Minister Hakan Fidan confirmed yesterday that his country is holding technical-level talks with Israel to reduce tensions over Syria, but is not moving toward normalizing relations.

He told CNN Turk: "While we are conducting certain operations in Syria, there must be a de-confliction mechanism with Israel, whose aircraft are flying in that area, just as we do with the Americans and the Russians."

T/S

ANHA