Turan Research Center

Israel-Turkey relations, already marked by unprecedented tensions, entered yet another period of extraordinary friction following an Israeli Air Force (IAF) strike on the Abu al-Duhur Air Base in Syria’s northwestern Idlib province on August 18. In an official statement issued after the strike, the Israeli Prime Minister’s Office for the first time explicitly characterized Turkey’s military deployment in Syria as a threat. In other words, Jerusalem made clear that it views any redeployment of Turkish Armed Forces units within Syria that could alter the existing balance of power—as well as the deployment of Turkish air-defense systems on Syrian territory—as potentially constraining the IAF’s air superiority and freedom of action in Syrian airspace. Of particular concern to the IAF is the possibility that future Israeli airstrikes against Iran could be detected in advance, allowing Tehran to be alerted or even leading to attempts to intercept or otherwise impede Israeli aircraft.

Determined to avoid turning Ankara into an active adversary, the IAF was careful to conduct the strike before Turkish forces could establish a presence at the base. Moreover, Israel only acted after its message urging Syria not to allow Turkey to deploy its forces at the base went unheeded. The strike on Abu al-Duhur was a surgical operation without casualties that succeeded, at least for the time being, in preserving the status quo. Yet, despite these attempts to avoid confrontation, official statements from both sides have now made one thing unmistakably clear: Israel and Turkey increasingly view each other as threats to their respective national interests.

Read the full article on Mosaic.

Hay Eytan Cohen Yanarocak is an Adjunct Fellow at the Turan Research Center.