Turkish and Syrian FMs rail at Israel over recent strikes on airbase

Turkish Foreign Minister Hakan Fidan accuses Israel of trying to destabilize Syria through its repeated strikes on the country.

He speaks while on a visit to Damascus, where his Syrian counterpart Asaad al-Shaibani says his country remains committed to diplomacy as it knows the consequences of war.

Last month, Israel bombed the disused Abu Duhur airbase in Syria’s northwest, claiming it wanted to avert Turkish troops deploying to the facility. Ankara denied any visit to the site.

“Just as Syria offers so much hope to the region and the world, there is suddenly an actor striving to destabilize the country,” Fidan says at a joint news conference.

“You know the name of that actor: Israel,” he adds.

Fidan says “the policies Israel pursues constitute the most serious obstacle to this positive trajectory. The attack carried out against the Abu Duhur military airbase is one of the latest examples.”

Shaibani says the attack “conveyed a destructive message aimed at undermining the path of building the Syrian state.”

The attack “has no legitimate or legal justification,” Shaibani adds, emphasizing that it “does not affect Syrian-Turkish relations.”

Shaibani says Damascus’s position on Israel’s escalation is “firm and unwavering” and insists on the need for Israel to withdraw from areas it invaded after the Assad regime’s fall.

Fidan says that Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan is expected to visit Syria soon, without specifying a date.