Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan on Friday accused Israel of sowing divisions in Syria in a bid to “dynamite” the “revolution” that toppled strongman Bashar al-Assad.
Turkey is a key backer of Syria’s new leader Ahmed al-Sharaa whose Islamist group Hayat Tahrir al-Sham (HTS) led the rebel coalition that ousted Assad in December.
“Israel is trying to dynamite the December 8 revolution by stirring up ethnic and religious affiliations and turning minorities in Syria against the government,” Erdogan told a forum in the southern Mediterranean resort of Antalya.
Syria’s Sharaa, who arrived in Antalya earlier in the day, met with Erdogan on the sidelines of the diplomacy forum. The Turkish presidency shared a photo of the two men shaking hands, in a post on X.
This was Sharaa’s second trip to Turkey as leader after Erdogan welcomed him to the capital Ankara in February.
The new Syrian leader also met Qatar’s foreign minister.
Erdogan’s latest comments came as officials from Turkey and Israel began talks this week aimed at easing tensions over Syria. The two regional powers are jostling for influence in the politically fragile country.
Israel has launched air strikes and ground incursions to keep Syrian forces away from its border, sparking criticism from Ankara.
According to one Syrian source close to the matter, Turkey wants to set up “military positions” in Syria — including one “inside the T-4 base,” a military airbase in Homs province targeted by Israeli strikes last week.
Turkey’s first technical meeting with Israel took place in Azerbaijan on Wednesday, according to a Turkish defence ministry source.
In an interview the same day, Turkish Foreign Minister Hakan Fidan underlined that this did not mean the two sides were moving towards normalising ties strained over Israel’s war with Hamas in Gaza.
Aron Lund, of the Century International think tank, underlined that point in comments to AFP. Israel and Turkey “are not going to come to an agreement about what should be done in Syria,” he said.
“And they’re both going to be active in Syria militarily one way or the other,” he added.
But hopefully the talks “will at least find ways for them to co-exist and manage their tensions somehow without that spiralling into something really destabilising”, said Lund.
Ankara’s influence on Syria’s new authorities has worried Israel, which considers Sharaa’s forces to be jihadists.
It has launched hundreds of strikes on military sites in Syria since Assad’s downfall.
“Israel is turning into a problematic country that directly threatens the stability of the region, especially with its attacks on Lebanon and Syria,” Erdogan told the forum.
The Turkish leader said the Syrian “revolution” offered an opportunity to bring stability to the region.
“We will not allow Syria to be dragged into a new vortex of instability,” said Erdogan.
Israeli strikes were denting efforts to combat the Islamic State (IS) jihadist group, he added.
Turkey has suspended all trade with Israel, Erdogan accusing Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu of “genocide” in Gaza since Hamas’s October 7, 2023 attack on Israel began the war.
And on Friday, he condemned Israel’s “barbarism” after a pre-dawn air strike that officials in Gaza said killed 10 members of the same family.
“Just this morning, 10 people, including seven children, from the same family were martyred in Khan Yunis. If this is not barbarism, I ask you, what is it?” he asked at the diplomacy forum.
© 2025 AFP
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