Israel’s aggression against Syria is bringing it dangerously close to Turkey’s southern border and raising the risk of a direct confrontation between Ankara and Tel Aviv, Turkish media have warned.
The Zionist regime carried out eight airstrikes on Tuesday against the Abu al-Duhur military air base in eastern Idlib, around 70 kilometers from Turkey, damaging its runway and storage facilities.
The strikes have heightened tensions between Ankara and Tel Aviv, with Turkish news outlets portraying the attack as a message aimed at preventing Ankara from establishing a stronger presence in Syria.
Israeli prime minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s office said the strikes were intended to prevent a possible deployment of Turkish forces at the base, arguing that such a move would threaten the regime’s security.
Turkey rejected the justification as “untenable,” saying Netanyahu was pursuing expansionist and destabilizing policies and using security arguments to legitimize attacks on Syria’s sovereignty and territorial integrity.
Turkish outlet Milli Gazete had previously warned that continued Israeli aggression against Syria could eventually bring the regime to Turkey’s borders, while other outlets have described its growing presence as an emerging strategic challenge for Ankara.
Ankara is working with the Hay’at Tahrir al-Sham (HTS) regime on military, and security matters, making the possibility of Turkish forces operating from strategic Syrian facilities a major point of tension.
US Ambassador to Turkey and Syria, Thomas Joseph Barrack, described the Israeli strikes as an “unnecessary escalation” and called for mechanisms to prevent misunderstandings and accidental clashes between Turkey, Israel and Syria.
Barrack said Turkey had not been warned about the strikes beforehand, highlighting the danger of an Israeli attack on facilities linked to Turkish military plans could trigger a direct confrontation.
The strikes have reinforced growing concerns in Turkey that Israel’s military expansionism is no longer a distant regional issue but an increasingly direct security threat to Ankara.
