The international minister says in an interview that Turkish navy officers had visited the airbase as a part of coaching.
Printed On 20 Aug 2026
Syria has no plans to ascertain a Turkish navy presence on the Abu al-Duhur airbase attacked by Israel earlier this week, International Minister Asaad al-Shaibani has mentioned.
Al-Shaibani mentioned in an interview with the US information outlet Axios on Wednesday that whereas Turkish navy officers had visited the positioning as a part of coaching and broader navy cooperation, he denied any Turkish navy build-up, explaining that the power was largely empty.
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“There was no intention to ascertain a Turkish base there, nor to ascertain a everlasting Turkish navy presence or deploy Turkish forces on the web site,” al-Shaibani mentioned, including that he had made this clear to Israel.
On Tuesday, Israel carried out eight air strikes on the runway and storage services on the Abu al-Duhur base close to Aleppo, state media reported, in what seemed to be Israel’s first assault on Syrian authorities property since March.
No casualties had been reported from the assault, which drew worldwide condemnation.
Al-Shaibani mentioned Israel had no professional justification for attacking the power.
He mentioned that whereas Syria remained open to negotiations with Israel on de-escalation, any future deal should deal with the safety considerations of each nations, reiterating that Israeli navy operations would enhance regional instability.
The strikes got here amid worsening safety tensions between Israel and Turkiye over Syria, the place each nations’ militaries are lively.
Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu mentioned Israel warned Syria forward of the strike to not permit a Turkish presence on the base.
“Our message was very clear. Don’t. I assume they didn’t fairly perceive the message,” Netanyahu mentioned on Wednesday.
On Thursday morning, Israeli Defence Minister Israel Katz claimed that Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan was “dragging Turkiye into harmful adventures in Syria”.
“Israel is not going to permit any entity to threaten its safety,” he mentioned.
“It’s preferable for Erdogan to proceed delivering empty, delusional speeches towards Israel within the Turkish parliament slightly than testing Israel’s resolve to defend itself,” Katz added.
Turkiye has rejected what it referred to as “untenable allegations” by Israel over its navy place in Syria.
The Turkish defence ministry mentioned on Thursday that Ankara would proceed supporting Syria’s efforts to develop its personal navy capability and infrastructure.
It mentioned there was no navy delegation on the air base hit by Israel earlier than or through the assaults, calling for the worldwide group to take extra concrete and efficient measures towards Israel’s actions, which it mentioned threatened regional peace and stability.
Turkiye, a NATO member, has emerged as one among Syrian President Ahmed al-Sharaa’s predominant allies and has accused Israel of making an attempt to destabilise Syria and undermine its new administration.
It has additionally repeatedly referred to as for worldwide stress and measures on Israel to respect Syria’s territorial integrity.
Final yr, Turkiye and Israel established a line of communication to keep away from any incidents in Syria.
