Israel does not plan to withdraw its troops from the southern territories of Syria adjacent to the Golan Heights. How is it possible counter Turkey without respecting Russia’s interests?

Syria As a Newly Key Node of Contradiction Between Israel and Turkey

It seemed that Turkey, as a NATO member, would adopt balanced diplomacy in this situation, since Israel is a strategic ally of the United States in the Middle East. Moreover, Israeli technology has contributed to the development of the Turkish economy and defense industry. However, a month after the start of the conflict, Ankara’s position aligned itself in favour of Hamas.

Apart from its desire to provide humanitarian aid to Palestinians, Turkey did not intend to follow Iran’s example in providing Hamas with military support. At the same time, the trade embargo Ankara declared against Tel Aviv did not extend to the transit of Azerbaijani oil through Turkish territory to Israeli ports, which indirectly aided the IDF’s offensive operations in the Gaza Strip. In response, Israeli intelligence agencies refrained from carrying out punitive operations against Hamas operatives on Turkish soil.

This situation could be explained by Recep Tayyip Erdoğan’s desire to strengthen Turkey’s role as a leading Islamic country, to aspire to a candidacy for a permanent seat in the UN Security Council, and to become a Middle Eastern leader. Ankara demonstrated the real potential of neo-Ottoman aspirations, given that Palestine was once part of the Ottoman Empire. At the same time, Turkish pragmatism ruled out providing specific military assistance to Hamas in its confrontation with Israel, as Turkey’s military actions are constrained by NATO and US policies (not to mention the presence of American military bases in Anatolia).

Meanwhile, Turkey has flexibly used its partnership with Russia in Syria, which since the autumn of 2016 has allowed it to conduct several local military operations to enter Kurdish-populated areas of the northern provinces of the Syrian Arab Republic (SAR) to establish a “security zone” 130 km long and 30 km deep, and to continue supporting pro-Turkish combat structures of Turkomans and Sunnis in the Syrian civil conflict (including the Sultan Murad Division and Hay’at Tahrir al-Sham*).

Syria, under the rule of the Alawite regime of Bashar al-Assad, posed a threat to Israel’s interests as well. Damascus, in partnership with Tehran, allowed the Iranian side to transfer........

© New Eastern Outlook