Turkey in talks with Israel to avoid military conflict in Syria

Mechanism needed to prevent military misunderstandings, Foreign Minister Hakan Fidan says

Turkish Foreign Minister Hakan Fidan has said the talks were needed to 'prevent misunderstandings'. Reuters

Turkey and Israel have held technical talks to avoid military misunderstandings that could start a conflict in Syria, Turkish Foreign Minister Hakan Fidan and Israeli officials confirmed.

Mr Fidan's remarks came a week after Israel increased 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.

A Turkish Defence Ministry official confirmed the first technical meeting on the establishment of a de-escalation mechanism to prevent "unwanted events in Syria" was held on Wednesday in Azerbaijan. "Work will continue for the establishment of a de-escalation mechanism," the official said in written remarks provided to journalists.

“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.

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu's office also confirmed the talks. In a statement, it said a delegation led by the Chief of the National Security Staff, Tzachi Hanegbi, along with senior representatives of the Ministry of Defence and the security branches, "met last night with a parallel Turkish delegation" in Azerbaijan.

During the talks, "each side presented its interests in the region, and agreed to continue the path of dialogue in order to maintain security stability", the statement said.

There was no immediate comment from Azerbaijan, which maintains good relationships with Israel and Turkey.

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.

The Turkish Defence Ministry official said Ankara was looking to set up bases for training purposes in Syria and was "providing support" to increase Damascus's defence capacities in line with "the demands of the new government" in the Syrian capital.

"In this context, evaluations for the establishment of bases for training purposes are ongoing," the official said.

Mr Fidan said the talks with Israel were solely for avoiding conflict in Syria and not aimed at improving relations more widely.

Diplomatic ties between Turkey and Israel had been improving, but nosedived over the war in Gaza, although they have not been completely severed. Ankara has strongly criticised the conduct of Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu's government and, under domestic pressure over the killings in Gaza, halted a multibillion-dollar annual trade with Israel last year.

Israeli officials are now concerned that Turkey's newfound weight in Syria could be used against it as Ankara builds influence in the country, where Israel has also expanded military operations into a UN-patrolled buffer zone in the occupied Golan Heights.

Mr Fidan 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, and has applied to join a case at the International Court of Justice against Israel, which denies accusations of genocide.

Additional reporting by Thomas Helm in Jerusalem