The Turkish Foreign Minister says that Ankara wants no conflict with Israel in Syria

The Minister of Foreign Affairs of Turkey said that his country did not want to conflict with Israel in Syria as tensions between the two countries are developing.

Addressing Reuters on the sidelines of a meeting of NATO Foreign Ministers in Brussels, Hakan Fidan said that if the Syrian government wanted to have “certain understanding” with Israel, then it was its own decision.

Israel launched repeated air strikes on Syria and has captured more territory since the escape of former President Bashar al-Assad in December.

Fidan’s comments arise as Turkey intensifies the efforts to conclude an agreement with Damascus which would give Ankara control of the Tiyas air base in northern Syria, also known as T4, where it plans to deploy air defense systems.

Familiar sources with the case told Middle East Eye earlier this week that Ankara and Damascus have been negotiating a defense pact since December.

The agreement would see Turkey providing air coverage and military protection of the new Syrian government, which currently has no military functioning.

Fidan warned that even if he did not want to see Israel and Turkey – longtime allies who have come across the Israel assault against Gaza – colliding with Syria, Israel’s attacks risked future regional instability.

Although Israel considers a Turkish military presence in Syria as a potential threat, Ankara aims to stabilize the country by taking advantage of its military capacities and by filling the vacuum cleaner to be left by the withdrawal of Russia and Iran.

Omer Ozkizilcik, a non -resident scholarship holder for the Syria project on the Atlantic Council, told me that the main objective of Israel in Syria was to have a “weak damas”.

“With the fall of the Assad regime, Israel considers a United Syria as a geopolitical risk. Its strategy to exploit, in particular the Druze, but also the Kurds and the Alawites, to prevent unified Syria does not take place as Israel hoped,” he said.

“Thus, Israel lobbying to maintain American sanctions against Syria and continues to target positions in Syria to prevent stability and refugee yields.”

Ozkizilcik said that the deployment of Turkish air defenses and the Air Force to Syria would limit the freedom of Israel to control the sky on the country.

“The role of Turkey in Syria will have no effect on Israel. It will focus on the fight against (the Islamic State group) because Turkey wants to convince Trump to withdraw from Syria and dissuade a possible Diran attack against Syria from Iraq or Lebanon. I think ISRAEL also knows,” he said.

“In short, Israel does not see a threat from Turkey in Syria but does not want to be contained in its current operational freedom to bomb Syria.”