Turkish President Erdogan dragging Turkey into dangerous adventures in Syria – Israeli Defence Chief

Israeli Defense Minister Israel Katz has on Thursday, sharply criticized Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan following an Israeli airstrike on a Syrian military base that Jerusalem says was linked to a Turkish military buildup.

Katz accused Erdogan of pushing Turkey toward increasingly risky involvement in Syria, while both Ankara and Damascus have rejected Israel’s claim that Turkish forces were being prepared for deployment at the site.

Advertisements

The comments come days after the Israel Defense Forces struck the Syrian air base, an operation that has added to already growing tensions between Israel, Turkey and Syria.

“Israel will not allow any entity to threaten its security,” Katz wrote in a Hebrew-language post on X.

Advertisements

He also warned Erdogan against testing Israel’s willingness to respond to what it considers security threats. Katz warned that the Turkish president would be better served by continuing his verbal criticism of Israel rather than taking actions that could lead to a direct confrontation.

The Israeli government has maintained that the strike was intended to prevent a potential Turkish military presence from developing in an area that Jerusalem considers strategically sensitive.

Turkey, however, has dismissed the allegations as unfounded, while Syrian officials say the base was largely empty and undergoing rehabilitation. Damascus has acknowledged that Turkish military officers visited the facility but described those visits as part of routine cooperation involving training and military expertise.

The dispute now risks becoming another source of friction between Ankara and Jerusalem, particularly as Turkey deepens its relationship with Syria’s new government.

Advertisements