Turkey in talks with Israel to avoid military conflict in Syria
Turkey has been holding technical talks with Israel to avoid military misunderstandings that could start a conflict in Syria, Foreign Minister Hakan Fidan has said.
His remarks came a week after Israel stepped up air strikes in Syria, declaring the attacks a warning to the new government in Damascus and accusing Turkey of trying to turn the country into a protectorate.
Turkey could set up a military base in Syria's desert city of Palmyra and is studying the possible use of a Turkish-produced air defence system known as Hisar, a senior Syrian military commander told The National last week.
'While we are conducting certain operations in Syria, there needs to be a non-conflict mechanism with Israel, which flies aircraft in that region, similar to mechanisms we have with the US and Russia,' Mr Fidan told broadcaster CNN Turk on Wednesday. 'There are technical contacts to prevent combat elements from misunderstanding each other.' Teams are contacting each other 'when needed', he added.
Mr Fidan said the talks were solely for avoiding conflict in Syria and not aimed at normalising relations.
He said Ankara's military activities in Syria were aimed at avoiding instability that could impact Turkey.
'We have no intention of fighting any country in Syria, not just Israel,' he said. 'If an area of instability emerges in a neighbouring country that will affect us and cause us harm, we cannot remain spectators.
'We cannot watch Syria again be subjected to internal turmoil, an operation or a provocation that will threaten Turkey's national security.'
Ankara has been fiercely critical of Israel over its attacks on Gaza, saying they amount to genocide against the Palestinians. It has applied to join a case at the International Court of Justice against Israel, while also halting trade. Israel denies the genocide accusations.
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