Türkiye Rejects Israeli Claims Over Syria, Defends Cooperation with Damascus

ERBIL (Kurdistan24) - Türkiye has rejected allegations made by Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu over Syria, describing them as baseless and aimed at providing justification for Israeli airstrikes on Syrian territory, while reaffirming Ankara’s continued cooperation with the Syrian government.

The Turkish Presidency said Wednesday, that it rejected all of Netanyahu’s allegations and maintained that Israel’s attacks on Syrian territory were unlawful.

In a statement published on its official X account, the Turkish Presidency said the allegations made by the Israeli prime minister had no basis in truth and were intended solely to legitimize what it described as Israel’s illegal airstrikes against Syria’s sovereignty and territorial integrity.

The Turkish Presidency attributed the allegations to what it described as Netanyahu’s domestic political objectives, saying they stemmed from his desire to continue what Ankara called expansionist and destabilizing policies in the region ahead of Israel’s elections.

Türkiye also reiterated its support for establishing lasting peace in the region, saying it shares that objective with the overwhelming majority of the international community.

The statement said the only way to achieve that goal was for Netanyahu to abandon what it described as warlike and coercive policies and respect international law.

Ankara further reaffirmed its position toward Damascus, saying Türkiye would continue, on a consistent and legitimate basis, its cooperation with the Syrian government to promote peace, stability and prosperity in Syria.

The Turkish Presidency stressed that Ankara would never allow Syria to be pushed toward instability and chaos.

The Turkish statement followed remarks issued Tuesday by the Israeli Prime Minister’s Office, which said Israel would not allow any threat to its national security.

The office said Syria had been approaching a breach of their security understanding by allowing Turkish forces to establish a presence at an air base near Aleppo.

According to the Israeli statement, Israel and Syria had agreed to maintain the existing status quo on security matters. It said Syria was nearing a violation of that understanding by allowing Turkish forces to become established at an air base near Aleppo.

The Israeli Prime Minister’s Office said Israel had repeatedly warned Syria that the deployment of Turkish forces represented a direct threat to Israel’s security, but Damascus had decided to disregard those warnings.

It added that Israel would not remain silent in the face of any threat to its security, while expressing its willingness to return to the previous status quo and agreement.

Axios, citing a senior Israeli official, reported that the Israeli strike on the Abu Duhur air base in Idlib was intended to prevent Turkish forces from becoming established there.

A senior Turkish official, however, said Türkiye had not deployed forces at the air base and accused Israel of using such claims as a justification to bomb neighboring countries and destabilize the region.

Fox News, citing a senior Israeli official, also reported that highly sensitive intelligence had been shared with the United States at the highest level before Israel carried out the strike on the Abu Duhur air base in Idlib.

The report further said Syrian President Ahmed al-Sharaa understood that he could not maintain proxy forces in the same manner as the previous Syrian regime.

A senior Turkish official separately told Axios that there were no Turkish soldiers at the Syrian air base targeted by Israel.

The competing statements have left the two sides sharply divided over the circumstances surrounding the Abu Duhur strike, with Ankara rejecting Israel’s justification and reaffirming its commitment to cooperation with Damascus, while Israel maintains that the presence of Turkish forces near Aleppo would pose a direct security threat.