Israel’s expansionist policy in the Middle East since the beginning of the 2023 conflict with Palestinians is now targeting post-Assad Syria.
Türkiye has warned that Israel may even target it in the future as tensions have escalated between the two countries. Parliamentary Speaker Numan Kurtulmuş told journalists on Saturday that Israel may not be “as irrational, as daring to clash with Türkiye regardless of conditions on the ground.”
Speaking on his way to Uzbekistan for an inter-parliamentary meeting, Kurtulmuş said countries should not downplay Israel’s action plan based on “Promised Land” plans. Israel nowadays appears to adhere to this radical ideology of expanding its dominance in the region from the Mediterranean Sea to the Jordan River based on a warped religious mindset.
“Israel’s purpose is clear. Although they have political differences, Netanyahu and his government are determined on this matter, and they launched their plans to realize the ‘Promised Land’ plans. It is not only about the annexation of Gaza. You should question why they attacked Lebanon, Syria, Yemen and Iran if their sole intention is to drive out Palestinians from their lands,” Kurtulmuş said.
On a question about the U.S.-Israeli alliance and its impact on Israel’s “Promised Land” plans, Kurtulmuş said Israel enjoyed unconditional support both under the Biden and the Trump administrations.
“Under normal circumstances, from their perspective, the U.S.-Israel alliance should have resolved the Gaza issue within a week. But the Middle East is like a labyrinth. Calculations about the region don’t play out as they do on paper. The resistance of the Palestinian people, the defiance of unarmed civilians, has taught the world a new lesson: You may have the world’s most powerful armies, but that doesn’t guarantee victory against the world’s most determined people. Today, a mass majority of Americans are voicing serious outrage over these crimes. Banning campus protests or firing academics who support Palestine won’t change anything. If it did, they would have ended this long ago. Ultimately, the global movement supporting Palestine will prevail,” he said.
As tensions have been running high between Türkiye and Israel on the Syrian front, Foreign Minister Hakan Fidan said on Friday that Tel Aviv’s actions in the war-torn country risked future regional instability.
In an interview with Reuters on the sidelines of a meeting of NATO foreign ministers in Brussels, Fidan said Ankara does not aim for confrontation with Tel Aviv. If the new administration in Damascus wants to have “certain understandings” with Israel, which, like Türkiye, is a neighbor of Syria, then that is their own business, he added.
NATO member Türkiye has fiercely criticized Israel over its attacks on Gaza since 2023, saying they amount to genocide against the Palestinians and has applied to join a case at the World Court against Israel while also halting all trade.
The animosity between the regional powers has spilled over into Syria, with Israeli forces striking Syria for weeks since a new administration took control in Damascus. Türkiye has called the Israeli strikes an encroachment on Syrian territories, while Israel has said it would not allow any “hostile” forces in Syria.
Earlier, the Turkish Foreign Ministry had strongly condemned Israel, calling it the biggest threat to peace and stability in the region through its aggressive and expansionist policies, saying that it “feeds” on conflict. The ministry condemned recent provocative remarks by Israeli ministers targeting Türkiye, saying such rhetoric reflects not only their current state of mind but also the extremist and racist nature of the Israeli government. The ministry also criticized Israel’s air and ground assaults on multiple locations in Syria on April 2, stating there had been no provocation or threat against Israel from Syrian territory.
Ankara said Israeli ministers could not deflect attention from their country’s “genocide in Gaza, 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 Türkiye.
“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,” the statement added.
Ankara’s words come after Israeli Foreign Minister Gideon Saar accused Türkiye of playing a “negative role in Syria.” The claims came amid reports that Ankara was moving to station jets and air defenses at Syrian air bases. A Syrian source told Agence France-Presse (AFP) the T4 air base was coveted by Türkiye. The ministry urged Israel to end its expansionist policies, withdraw from occupied territories and stop obstructing efforts to restore stability in Syria.
Israel has carried out an extensive bombing campaign against Syrian military assets since an anti-regime alliance toppled longtime dictator Bashar Assad in November. It has also carried out ground incursions into southern Syria in a bid to keep the forces of the new government back from the border.
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