Turkey’s foreign minister says the country wants to avoid conflict with Israel in Syria

Turkey has no plans to challenge Israel in Syria, according to the country’s foreign minister.

Turkey’s foreign minister told Reuters on Friday that while the country does not want to fight Israel in Syria, it is concerned that the ongoing Israeli attacks on military installations in the war-torn nation are making it more difficult for the country’s new administration to fight challenges like Islamic State.

Hakan Fidan claimed Israel’s actions against Syria, a nation headed by President Ahmed al-Sharaa, who is considered a close ally of Ankara, were causing regional instability during a NATO foreign ministers’ conference in Brussels.

“Syria belongs to Syrians, so we don’t want to see any confrontation with Israel there,” Fidan stated, emphasizing that the people of Syria should be the only ones responsible for its security.

Turkey, a NATO member, has been among Israel’s harshest critics for its continuous attack on Gaza since 2023, accusing the government of committing genocide against the Palestinian people. Turkey has severed all trade with Israel and has requested to join the World Court’s case against the country for genocide. Israel has refuted the claims of genocide.

In Syria, where Israeli raids have continued for weeks after a new government was installed in Damascus, tensions between the two regional giants have spread. Israel claims it is taking action to stop enemy forces from advancing in Syria, but Turkey has denounced the attacks as breaches of Syrian sovereignty.

Fidan cautioned that the lack of a regular military force in Syria may be used by terrorist organizations such as the Kurdistan Workers’ Party (PKK) and Islamic State (ISIS) during what he called a “transition period.”

“Israel is regrettably eliminating, one by one, all these capabilities that a new state can use to counter ISIS and other terrorist threats and attacks,” he stated.

Fidan went on to say, “What Israel is doing in Syria is not only endangering Syria’s security but also opening the door for future instability in the region.”

But he said it was up to the future Syrian administration to determine whether to pursue any sort of agreement with Israel, which shares a border with Syria like Turkey.