Turkey and Israel have increased their war of words over Syria, which could put them on a collision course for future tensions.
Turkey’s President Recep Tayyip Erdogan made a pointed statement on Monday, without mentioning Israel by name, warning against intervention in Syria and saying that Ankara will not allow the country to be divided.Â
It follows massive incursions by Israel in southwestern Syria, with threats to invade a Damascus suburb that has been subject to clashes in recent days between Syrian security forces and armed Druze men.
“Those seeking to benefit from Syria’s instability will not succeed,” said Erdogan. “We will not allow them to divide Syria as they imagine.”
Israel has been accused of stirring sectarian tensions in Syria to create divisions that might weaken the new Syrian government and present a pretext for intervention.
This has been particularly evident in Druze areas, where tensions between gangs and security forces have been on the rise as the Israeli government threatens to use force to “protect” the religious minority.
On Monday night, locals in Suweida burned an Israeli flag that had been reportedly raised in the centre of the Druze-majority city. The New Arab could not confirm the video.
Druze leaders and locals have strongly rejected any foreign intervention and maintain that Israel is an occupying power.
Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said last week that Israel would not allow Syrian troops south of Damascus and demanded the “full demilitarisation of southern Syria from troops of the new Syrian regime in the Quneitra, Daraa, and Suweida provinces”.
The comments sparked uproar in Syria at the blatant infringement on national sovereignty and obvious attempts by Israel to weaken the new Syrian administration, following the recent overthrow of Bashar Al-Assad’s regime.
Israel has occupied parts of the Syrian Golan Heights since 1967 but since the fall of Assad has expanded its military presence in Syria dramatically, including the strategically important Mount Hermon.
Turkey, meanwhile, has launched several interventions in northern Syria against the Syrian Democratic Forces (SDF) – which Ankara accuses of being an offshoot of the banned Kurdistan Workers’ Party (PKK) – and previously the Islamic State group.
It maintains a presence in northern Syria, has strong links to the Syrian National Army (SNA), and is on cordial terms with Hayat Tahrir Al-Sham, which currently governs Syria.
Israel is now reportedly wary of the presence of Turkey’s powerful position in the MENA region, with the Syrian rebels’ overthrow of the Assad regime seen as another win for Ankara.
It follows a report last week that claimed Israel is lobbying Washington to allow Russia to maintain its military presence in Latakia and Tartous in order to keep Syria “weak and decentralised” and to check Turkey’s influence in the country.
A report in Israel Hayom this week also claimed that Israel is pressing the US to block any attempts by Turkey to build any new military bases in Syria.
