Friend of my enemy: Israel's and Turkey's interests clash in Syria
The interests of Turkey and Israel intersect in Syria, as relations between the two countries have been fraying at the seams lately. Ankara broke off diplomatic relations with Tel Aviv amid the war in the Gaza Strip. Now, however, alleged contacts with Kurdish militias are adding fuel to the fire. If the Kurdish forces, under whose control is the northeast of Syria, receive help from Tel Aviv, the Turkish authorities, according to local media, allow the option of strikes on Israeli aircraft. Details - in the material of "Izvestia".
Expansion of presence
"Strengthening the presence in the Golan strengthens the Israeli state, and it is especially important in the current circumstances. We will continue to settle there and make them prosperous," said Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu.
According to The Jerusalem Post, Israeli authorities intend to double the population of the territory.
After the overthrow of President Bashar al-Assad, Israel began to expand its control over the border zone with Syria. On the night of December 9, the IDF entered new areas in the neutral territory, in addition, Tel Aviv's air raids in Syria continue.
Israeli military on the line of demarcation between the Israeli-occupied Golan Heights and Syria
Ankara has reacted particularly strongly to this. According to Turkish Defense Minister Yaşar Güler, Israel, by "intensifying its aggression" in the Middle East, is "displaying its occupation mentality." According to the defense minister, Ankara feared that IDF attacks would not be limited to Gaza and would "spread to the entire region."
What worries the Republic of Turkey even more is that the Kurdish formations controlling northeastern Syria are turning to the Israeli authorities to open channels of military aid. In particular, Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan does not rule out the option of strikes against Israeli aircraft that conduct raids in Syria, writes the Yeni Safak newspaper. This could happen if Tel Aviv decides to support Kurdish forces.
Turkey, amid the fall of Bashar al-Assad's regime, currently believes it is in a strong position as armed groups close to it have come to power in Damascus.
That Ankara would like to revise the border line and annex parts of Syria was talked about after the Turkish leader spoke at the 8th congress of the Justice and Development Party he leads. "If World War I revised the borders of our region, what would have happened if the conditions were different? Most likely, the cities we call Aleppo, Idlib, Hama, Damascus, Raqqa would have been our provinces, just like Antep, Hatay, Urfa," Erdogan said.
Syrians living in Turkey celebrate after overthrowing President Bashar al-Assad
He later said that his words were misunderstood and it was not about annexing Syrian cities, but simply about establishing brotherly relations with the people of these regions.
Meanwhile, Israel is also demonstrating that it is not going to stop in Syria. As the IDF explains, all of the country's actions are "aimed at ensuring the security" of Israel, particularly the citizens living in the Golan Heights region.
"There is a real threat that terrorist elements will try to establish themselves near our border. We are acting decisively to prevent extremist groups from congregating near us," IDF Chief Herzi Halevi said.
New foreign policy
The leader of the armed opposition that came to power in Syria, Ahmed al-Sharaa (known by his nickname Abu Mohammed al-Julani), gave a program interview to the Arab TV channels Al-Arabiya, Al-Hadas and Syria TV, naming the priorities of the country's new leadership.
After years of war, he said, the country cannot afford "to enter into new debilitating conflicts that could lead to more destruction." He focused most of his speech on future relations with Moscow, Tehran and Tel Aviv.
UN envoy to Syria Geir Pedersen meets with Ahmed al-Sharaa, the leader of Syria's armed opposition, in Damascus, Syria
He noted that despite the background of relations between Russia and the previous regime, the new Syrian authorities are not against Moscow, but expect it to reconsider its policy toward Damascus.
Ahmed al-Sharaa added that the new Syrian leadership expects a new phase of relations that meets common interests, so it has not made any drastic steps against Moscow.
The opposition leader called the "Iranian project" harmful, ruling out the possibility of restarting relations with Tehran.
Israeli soldiers in the Golan Heights on the border with Syria
Israel's actions were condemned by the new Syrian authorities. The arguments of the government of Benjamin Netanyahu Ahmed al-Sharaa called weak. According to him, the actions of the Israeli military threaten an "unjustified escalation" in the region.
He also called on the international community to intervene and take responsibility for the escalation, emphasizing the importance of controlling the situation in the region and respecting Syria's sovereignty.
What the experts think
Andrei Ontikov, an orientalist, publicist, author of the Telegram channel "Eastern Gates", noted in a conversation with Izvestia that if Israel does not escalate the situation, relations between Turkey and Israel will improve if the situation stabilizes, because the countries are extremely interested in each other as economic partners.
- Their relations have repeatedly gone through a period of escalation, then it was hushed up, and economic interests outweighed. The same thing could happen now. Time will pass and the Turks will cooperate with the Israelis in the same way, gradually this cooperation will be restored, as the two countries are interested in it," the political analyst said.
He added that from the point of view of not tactical but strategic perspective, the Americans are determined to create a Kurdish state in the Middle East.
- This will be a serious blow to the Arab and Islamic world, because pieces of territory will be plucked from Syria, Iran, Iraq and Turkey. It is clear that the Turks do not like this prospect. All their actions against the Kurdistan Workers' Party (PKK) banned in Turkey, according to them, are aimed at extinguishing any sprouts of separatism," the expert explained.
The expert reminded that at the same time several years ago in Iraqi Kurdistan a referendum on independence was successfully held. The only country that warmly supported it was Israel.
Ontikov also believes that the Americans and Israelis have nowhere to hurry.
- They have no need to create a Kurdish state in a year or two, even 10 years. But such a project exists. The Turks, of course, will follow these actions with great attention. The Israelis realize that the creation of a Kurdish state will lead to a serious weakening of the Arab and Islamic world," the orientalist believes.
Nowruz in the town of Akre in the Kurdish region of Iraq
Elena Panina, director of the Institute of International Political and Economic Strategies - RUSSTRAT, notes that while Recep Erdogan publicly declares that he "intends to annex the Syrian cities of Aleppo, Idlib, Damascus and Raqqa to Turkey with their transformation into Turkish provinces," and the head of Turkey's national intelligence organization (MİT), Ibrahim Kalın, visits the Umayyad Mosque in Damascus, the Turkish Foreign Ministry reports that Israeli encroachments on Syrian territory are unacceptable.
"He supported Egypt and Qatar in these statements. The Turkish Foreign Ministry specified that just now, "in this difficult period, when there is an opportunity to achieve peace and stability, which the Syrian people have dreamed of for many years, Israel is again demonstrating its occupation mentality," the political scientist notes.
In her opinion, the Turkey-Israel strategic axis in the Middle East predicted by many observers "turns out to be not an axis at all, but a curve of a much more complex order.
"Because the interests of the two states diverge, starting with the issue of control over the Syrian territory, which is still ownerless in the official political sense," the specialist believes.
