U.S. seeks Israel-Turkey-Syria deconfliction mechanism after Idlib airstrike
QAMISHLI, Syria (North Press) – U.S. Special Envoy to Syria Tom Barrack said on Tuesday that Washington is working to establish a mechanism to prevent clashes between Israel, Turkey and Syria, after Israel carried out a strike on a Syrian airbase near the Turkish border.
Barrack told Reuters in a phone interview that Ankara was not given advance notice of the Israeli strike, “and consequently observed the aircraft heading north toward its territory and therefore could have reasonably prepared its own response,” referring to the possibility of a Turkish military response.
“Thankfully, calm heads were able to prevent the situation from deteriorating further,” Barrack said.
Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s office said Syria “was on the verge of breaching” the status quo on security matters with Israel.
Netanyahu’s office added that Damascus had been close to “permitting Turkish troops to deploy at an airbase near Aleppo,” saying Syria had chosen to ignore Israeli warnings over the deployment.
The office stressed that “Israel repeatedly warned Syria that such a deployment would pose a threat to Israel’s security. Syria chose to ignore these warnings. Israel will not tolerate threats to its security, and would welcome a return to the status quo.”
Syria denied any security agreement with Israel after Israeli strikes on Abu al-Duhur airbase in Idlib, rejecting claims that Damascus was preparing to allow Turkish forces to deploy there.
Turkey condemned the Israeli strikes in northwestern Syria but made no further comments, including on the possibility of establishing a deconfliction mechanism.
The Turkish presidency said that claims made by the Israeli prime minister’s office were aimed at justifying Israel’s illegal airstrikes targeting Syria’s sovereignty and territorial integrity.
In a statement on Tuesday, the Turkish presidency said that Turkey will never allow Syria to be destabilized.
The Turkish presidency said Ankara would continue cooperating with the Syrian government to establish security, stability and prosperity in Syria, according to the statement.
The statement called on the Israeli prime minister to abandon aggressive policies and respect international law.