[Source: Reuters]

Turkey wants no confrontation with Israel in Syria, but repeated Israeli strikes on military facilities there are eroding the new government’s ability to deter threats from enemies, including Islamic State, Turkey’s foreign minister told Reuters on Friday.

In an interview on the sidelines of a NATO foreign ministers’ meeting in Brussels, Hakan Fidan said Israel’s actions were fueling regional instability by targeting Syria, where the government of President Ahmed al-Sharaa is a close ally of Turkey.

“We don’t want to see any confrontation with Israel in Syria because Syria belongs to Syrians,” Fidan said.

Turkey, which shares a 911 km (566-mile) border with Syria, has emerged as one of the most influential power brokers in Syria and allies of its new Islamist government. Ankara had for years backed the rebels who now make up the bulk of the new government as they fought to topple former President Bashar al-Assad.

Israel has accused Turkey of trying to turn Syria into a Turkish protectorate.

Asked whether Turkey’s plans for a joint defence pact with Syria were prompting Israel to intensify strikes on Syrian military bases, Fidan said Ankara was working with regional partners to form a joint platform with Syria to block the re-emergence of Islamic State and fight shared threats, including the banned Kurdish Workers Party (PKK).

Undermining that effort, he said, risks dragging the entire region back into chaos.

NATO member Turkey has fiercely criticised Israel over its attacks on Gaza since 2023, saying they amount to a genocide against the Palestinians, and has applied to join a case at the World Court against Israel while also halting all trade.

Israel denies the genocide accusations.

The animosity between the regional powers has spilled over into Syria, with Israeli forces striking Syria for weeks since a new administration took control in Damascus. Turkey has called the Israeli strikes an encroachment on Syrian territory, while Israel has said it would not allow any hostile forces in Syria.

In this “transition period”, Fidan said, Turkey does not want to see Islamic State (ISIS) or the Kurdistan Workers Party (PKK) militant group take advantage of “the absence of the regular forces, some absence of military capabilities” in Syria.

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