ANKARA, Aug 19 (Reuters) – Turkey firmly rejected on Wednesday what it called “untenable allegations” by Israel regarding its military position in Syria, after Israel bombed a Syrian air base near the Turkish border and said Syria \u200bwas on the verge of permitting Turkish troops to deploy there.<\/p>\n
Israel carried out airstrikes<\/a> against \u200cthe Abu al-Duhur base near Aleppo on Tuesday, drawing condemnation from Turkey and criticism from a U.S. envoy who called the attack an “unnecessary escalation”.<\/p>\n Sign up here.<\/a><\/p>\n In a statement, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s office said late on Tuesday that \u200bSyria was on the verge of violating a “status quo agreed with Israel in security matters” \u200bby allowing Turkish troops to deploy at the airbase, adding that such a \u2060deployment would threaten Israel’s security and it would not tolerate this.<\/p>\n In response, Turkey’s presidency said the “imputations” \u200bfrom Netanyahu’s office stemmed from his intention to pursue “expansionist and destabilising policies” ahead of elections in \u200bIsrael, adding that lasting regional peace could only be achieved if Israel respected international law and abandoned its “aggressive and coercive policies”.<\/p>\n “The untenable allegations put forward by the Israeli Prime Minister\u2019s Office are intended to legitimise Israel\u2019s unlawful airstrikes \u200btargeting Syria\u2019s sovereignty and territorial integrity,” it said on X, without explicitly referring to any potential deployment \u200bplans.<\/p>\n “Turkey will resolutely continue to cooperate with the Syrian Government on a legitimate basis for the establishment of \u200cpeace, stability, \u2060and prosperity in Syria, and will never allow the destabilisation of Syria.”<\/p>\n The strikes on Tuesday follow worsening security tensions between Israel and Turkey and increasingly sharp rhetoric between the two countries over Syria, where both countries’ militaries are active.<\/p>\n Turkey, which has NATO’s second-largest army and has emerged as one \u200bof Syrian President Ahmed \u200bal-Sharaa’s main allies, accuses \u2060Israel of trying to destabilise Syria and undermine its new administration, repeatedly calling for international pressure and measures on Israel to respect Syria\u2019s territorial integrity.<\/p>\n Ankara \u200bhas been training Syria’s army, helping it rebuild its state institutions and \u200binfrastructure, and \u2060providing military and diplomatic support.<\/p>\n Last year, Turkey and Israel \u2014 also sharply at odds over the war in Gaza \u2014 established a line of communication to avoid any incidents in Syria.<\/p>\n Tom Barrack, the U.S. special presidential \u2060envoy for \u200bSyria and Iraq, told Reuters after the strikes on Tuesday \u200bthat Washington was working to establish a deconfliction mechanism<\/a> among Israel, Turkey and Syria, and added the U.S. already facilitates an \u200binformation-sharing and dialogue mechanism among the parties.<\/p>\n Reporting by Tuvan Gumrukcu; Editing by Daren Butler and Toby Chopra<\/p>\n Our Standards: The Thomson Reuters Trust Principles., opens new tab<\/a><\/p>\n