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Türkiye views any attempts to divide Syria as a national security threat and would directly intervene if such an attempt were made, Foreign Minister Hakan Fidan said on Tuesday.
Speaking at a news conference with his El Salvadorian counterpart, Alexandra Hill, in the capital Ankara, Fidan said Israel was seeking to “drag the region to chaos to preserve its status” and that the unrest in Syria’s Druze-majority south was a “reflection of that.”
“As Türkiye, we could never stay silent against such a move,” Fidan said, stressing that clashes between Druze and the Bedouin factions could have only been prevented by the military intervention of Syria’s central government.
Israel is unwilling to see a stable country around itself and aims to divide Syria with the violent unrest in southern Suwayda province, Fidan added.
On July 13, clashes broke out between Bedouin Arab tribes and armed Druze groups in Suwayda in southern Syria. The situation worsened on July 16 when the Israeli military conducted strikes near the Syrian presidential palace and on the General Staff headquarters and Defense Ministry.
Ankara played a key role in establishing the cease-fire in Syria after Israeli airstrikes targeted the capital, Damascus, as well as Suwayda and Daraa, on the pretext of protecting the Druze community.
Fidan highlighted that the whole international community and regional actors strived for Syria not to become a state hosting terrorism or a state being the source of migration, while Israel sabotages all initiatives for stability and security in Syria.
Fidan said that Türkiye is one of the countries most negatively affected by the regional problems and terrorism in terms of security, and added, “But despite this, while we continue our struggle, we are trying to present stability and goodness as a larger strategic vision. All our relations with Iraq, Syria and Iran are developing in this way.”
Besides Israel, Fidan also warned other groups within Syria not to stoke tensions.
“No group should attempt to divide. We have much to discuss through diplomacy,” he said.
Fidan underlined that Türkiye tries to end all conflicts and wars through diplomatic initiatives and is following the developments in Syria’s south closely.
In one of the biggest turning points for the Middle East in generations, anti-regime forces seized the Syrian capital, Damascus, and longtime dictator Bashar Assad fled to Russia following 13 years of civil war and more than 50 years of his family’s brutal rule in December. Following the fall of the Assad regime and the installation of a new government in Syria, Türkiye pledged support for Damascus and rallied countries to follow suit. Ankara explained to its interlocutors the importance of lifting sanctions and rebuilding the country for refugees in the region, Europe and Türkiye to be able to return.
Türkiye also formed a counterterrorism platform that includes Syria’s neighbors to fight Daesh and thus prevent any future uprising of the terrorist organization through intelligence sharing and joint action.
