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Turkey is planning to establish military bases in Syria and assist the country’s Islamist-led Interim Government in establishing security forces, Turkish media reported on May 25.
Syrian security sources TOLD the Turkiye Gazetesi and ODATV channel that Turkey wants to establish air, naval and ground force bases in the country in order to fight against ISIS. The sources didn’t reveal where the bases will be established.
The reports emerged amid a visit by Syrian Interim President Ahmad al-Sharaa to Turkey, where he met President Recep Tayyip Erdogan and other senior Turkish officials. Sharaa was accompanied not only by his Foreign Minister Asaad al-Shaibani, but also by Defense Minister Murhaf Abu Qasra.
Turkey, which backed Islamists-led forces that overthrew the regime of Bashar al-Assad last December, has been working to build a strategic alliance, including a defense pact, with the Interim Government installed by its allies in Syria.
The plans faced a setback between March and April as Israeli strikes hit Palmyra and two other air bases in central Syria, T4 and Hama, which were scouted by the Turkish military for possible deployment. Israel reportedly rejected any expansion of Turkey’s current military deployment in the war torn country.
Later, however, tensions between Turkey and Israel began to ease after Azerbaijan mediated talks on a deconfliction mechanism between the two.
Israel also adopted a softer stance towards the Interim Government following secret direct talks, which began on the initiative of the United Arab Emirates.
United States President Donald Trump even asked Sharaa during a meeting in the Saudi capital, Riyadh, earlier this month to make peace with Israel. Ahead of the meeting, Trump promised to leave all sanctions off the war-torn country in response to requests from both the kingdom and Turkey.
The renewed talk about Turkey’s plans to establish bases in Syria came just a day after reports revealed that the country and Israel had reached an agreement in principle on a deconfliction mechanism.
An Israeli official told the Israel Hayom daily that the agreement was reached on May 21, after over a month of talks in Azerbaijan.
A hotline will be used to avert clashes between Israel, which has troops in the south of the country, and Turkey, whose military is operating in the north of the country, two sources familiar with the issue told the Middle East Eye.
A source familiar with the talks told the news website that Israel was generally at ease with Ankara’s deployment of its forces in Syria, with the main issue over where Turkey would deploy its air defenses and radars, which could scan for Israeli aerial activities. The negotiations are now “focusing on the so-called Palmyra line,” where Turkey is eyeing an air base.
All in all, Turkey appears to be preparing with its plans for defensive pacts with Syria. Israel will not likely object to this, as long as it maintains the large area of influence it created in the south of the country right after the fall of the Assad regime.
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