Israel confirms talks with Turkey in Azerbaijan, lays out its ‘red line’ in Syria

A senior Israeli official confirms that delegations from Turkey and Israel met yesterday in Azerbaijan to discuss a deconfliction mechanism aimed at preventing unwanted incidents in Syria.

During the meeting, Israel “made it unequivocally clear that any change in the deployment of foreign forces in Syria, in particular the establishment of Turkish bases in the Palmyra (Tadmor) area, is a red line,” the official says.

The official adds that Israel has made it clear that preventing any such activity “is the responsibility of the government in Damascus. Any activity that endangers Israel will threaten the rule of [Syrian President Ahmed] al-Sharaa.”

Turkish ministry sources also confirm the talks in Azerbaijan, saying that they mark the beginning of efforts to set up a channel to avoid potential clashes or misunderstandings between the two countries’ operations in the region.

“Efforts will continue to establish this mechanism,” one of the sources says, without providing further details on the scope or timeline of the talks.

Israel has accused Turkey of trying to turn Syria into a Turkish protectorate, and Ankara has slammed Israeli military activity in the country following the fall of the Bashar al-Assad regime. Reuters reported last week that Turkish military teams had scoped out at least three air bases in Syria where they could deploy forces as part of a planned joint defense pact before Israel hit the sites with airstrikes.