Turkey on Wednesday rejected Israeli claims that Ankara poses a security threat by preparing to deploy forces to a military airbase in Syria that was targeted in a strike the United States blamed on Israel.
Anadolu Agency quoted a statement from the Turkish Presidency’s Directorate of Communications as saying that the “false claims put forward by the office of Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu are intended to legitimize illegal Israeli airstrikes targeting Syria’s sovereignty and territorial integrity.”
Syria, in two identical letters addressed to UN Secretary-General António Guterres and Security Council President Christina Lassen, strongly condemned the Israeli attack on the Abu al-Duhur military airbase in Idlib province early Tuesday. Damascus described the attack as an unjustified act of aggression and a flagrant violation of Syria’s sovereignty and territorial integrity, as well as a dangerous escalation threatening security and stability in the region.
Netanyahu’s office had accused Syria of agreeing to the deployment of forces at a military base in the country’s northeast, saying this “threatens the security” of Israel, following strikes on Abu al-Duhur airbase that Damascus and Washington said were carried out by Israel.
In a statement, the office said: “Israel and Syria agreed on a status quo regarding security matters, and Syria was on the verge of violating it by agreeing to the deployment of Turkish forces at an airbase near Aleppo.”
“Israel repeatedly warned Syria that such a deployment would threaten Israel’s security. Syria chose to ignore these warnings,” the statement added, stressing that Israel “will not tolerate any threats to its security and will welcome a return to the status quo.”
The statement stopped short of explicitly acknowledging Israeli responsibility for the attack, which came a day after Israeli authorities remained silent about the strike.
Following the ouster of Bashar al-Assad, Israeli forces launched hundreds of airstrikes across Syria, largely targeting military sites. Israel said the strikes were aimed at preventing the new authorities from taking control of the former army’s arsenal. However, the latest strike targeted an area considered to be far from what Israel describes as a security zone in southern Syria.
A security source told Agence France-Presse that the Abu al-Duhur airbase, located in Syria’s northwestern Idlib province, had been out of service since 2012 and was under the protection of the Syrian Defense Ministry.
Relations between Ankara and Tel Aviv have been strained for years, particularly following Israel’s war on the Gaza Strip and its military operations in Syria since the ouster of Assad.
In a post on X, U.S. envoy to Syria Tom Barrack, who also serves as Washington’s ambassador to Ankara, said: “We are deeply concerned by the confirmed Israeli airstrikes on Abu al-Duhur airbase,” describing them as an “unnecessary escalation that does not contribute to regional stability.”
AFP
