Turkiye calls Israel 'biggest threat to regional peace' after deadly Syria strikes

 The Turkish Foreign Ministry says Israel is the “greatest threat” to peace in West Asia, condemning dozens of Israeli airstrikes that hit several military sites in Syria on Wednesday.

“Israel has become the foremost threat to the security of our region through its attacks on the territorial integrity and national unity of the regional countries. As a strategic destabilizer in the region, Israel causes turmoil and fuels terrorism,” a Foreign Ministry statement issued on 3 April reads.

“Therefore, in order to establish security throughout the region, Israel must first abandon its expansionist policies, withdraw from the territories it occupies, and stop undermining efforts to establish stability in Syria,” the statement adds.

On Wednesday night, Israeli warplanes launched an intense bombing campaign across Syria that killed at least 11 people. The main targets of the attack were the Barzeh Scientific Research Center just outside Damascus, the Hama military airport in western Syria, and the T4 airbase near Palmyra. 

The Israeli blitz almost entirely destroyed Hama airport.

According to several reports in Israeli media, the attacks were intended to send a message to the Turkish government. “We will not allow you to establish a presence in Syria,” officials told the Jerusalem Post.

In recent weeks, Ankara has begun the process of taking over the Tiyas Air Base in Syria’s central governorate of Homs, also known as the T4 airbase, with plans to equip it with a complex defense system that includes short, medium, and long-range capabilities against jets, drones, and missiles.

Earlier on Thursday, Israeli Foreign Minister Gideon Saar accused Ankara of playing a “negative role” in Syria, saying that “they are doing their utmost to have Syria as a Turkish protectorate. It’s clear that is their intention.”

In response, Ankara said Israeli ministers could not deflect attention from their ethnic cleansing campaign in Gaza and the “total war against the Palestinian people, settler terrorism, annexation plans for the West Bank, and expansionist ambitions behind attacks on Syria and Lebanon” by targeting Turkiye.

Despite the increased tensions, energy ties between Ankara and Tel Aviv remain strong, as the Turkish government continues to allow the flow of Azerbaijani oil via Ceyhan Port to Israel.

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