Turkey: Israel has become the greatest threat to regional security

Turkey criticized Israel over its strikes in Syria on Thursday, demanding Israel withdraw from Syria and stop harming stabilization efforts there.

“Israel has become the greatest threat to regional security” and is a “strategic destabilizer, causing chaos and feeding terrorism,” the Turkish Foreign Ministry charged.

“Therefore, in order to establish security throughout the region, Israel must first abandon its expansionist policies, withdraw from the territories it occupies, and stop undermining efforts to establish stability in Syria,” it added.

The statement followed IDF strikes on military capabilities in the Syrian Hama and T-4 military bases, alongside additional military infrastructure in the Damascus area.

Security sources said on Thursday that the IDF strikes were intended to prevent a planned Turkish takeover of the targeted area.

Syria’s Foreign Ministry criticized Israel’s strikes in the country, claiming that Israelis are “intentionally attempting” to upset stability in the area.

In a statement, the Ministry said that the attacks constitute “an unjustified escalation which is an intentional attempt to undermine the stability in Syria.”

Turkey has upped its criticism of Israel’s counterterrorism operations. Earlier this week, the Turkish Foreign Ministry criticized Israel’s strikes against Hezbollah terrorist targets in Lebanon.

“These attacks have once again exposed Israel’s flagrant disregard for international law and its ongoing threat to the region’s security and stability. The international community must stand united against Israel’s efforts to create a perpetual state of conflict in the region,” it said.

In response, the Israeli Foreign Ministry said in a statement of its own, “While violently suppressing his own citizens and carrying out mass arrests of political opponents, [President Recep Tayyip] Erdogan presumes to preach lofty values to the international community.”

“In Erdogan’s Turkey, there is no justice, no law, and no freedom. Israel does not need Erdogan’s ridiculous moral sermons. Israel acts to defend itself and its citizens against real threats and actual attacks — and it will continue to do so,” it added.

Erdogan has increased his verbal attacks on Israel since the start of the war in Gaza on October 7, 2023. The two countries had been on track to restore strained ties before Hamas’ October 7 attack on Israel.

Last month, the Turkish President described Israel as a “terror state” after it launched surprise strikes on terrorist targets in the Gaza Strip.

“The Zionist regime has once again shown that it is a terror state that feeds on the blood, lives and tears of the innocent with its brutal attacks on Gaza last night,” Erdogan said.

Weeks after meeting Haniyeh, Erdogan boasted of the fact that more than 1,000 members of Hamas were being treated in hospitals across Turkey and also took issue with Greek Prime Minister Kyriakos Mitsotakis’ reference to Hamas as a terrorist organization.