On August 18, Israeli warplanes bombed an inactive Abu Dhuhur military airbase, 65 km from the Turkish border and 300 km inside Syrian territory. The stated motives are the alleged presence of Turkish military forces at the base, which Ankara strongly denies. It has nothing to do with “military presence”. Israel's claims are that the attack was carried out “immediately after a Turkish delegation inspected the base”. Turkey called on “the international community to limit Israeli aggression and Netanyahu's policy, which threatens peace in the region”. Shaibani, Syria's foreign minister, states that Turkey has assisted in the formation of the Syrian army, but claims of “Turkish military presence” are untrue. Is Israel reckless and how dared it do this, they ask themselves in Ankara. It is not the first time it has done so. They remember bombings of a Syrian air base as early as 2025 and it is always said that this was in response to the presence of Turkish military units in Syria. Not that they do not exist. But Tel Aviv considers them a “threat to Israel's security” and therefore makes “preventive attacks”. What if an attack is carried out when Turkish “advisors” are on site at a given base or a Turkish military unit is attacked that is deployed in Syria under an agreement with Damascus? Does Israel really want to involve Turkey in an “early conflict”? With this attack, a direct message to Ankara, is it not intended to test a Turkish reaction? Israel “will not allow Turkey to settle on Syrian soil”. And “if there is no reaction, then Turkey is showing weakness”. Is Ankara being provoked? Is a trap being set and a way is being sought for Erdogan's country to move towards a "planned agenda"? Did they even plan Turkey's reaction? So that there would be a counterattack?
There are many questions, but in this case Ankara clearly remained calm and did not intervene. The "invitation to war" was not received, according to media in Ankara. Tom Barak, the US ambassador to Turkey and responsible for Syria, stated that "Turkey intercepted the Israeli planes coming north. It could have intervened if it wanted to. But it did not". For him, the conclusion is "we were one step away from a Turkish-Israeli military conflict". But Turkey showed "maturity". And did the US know about this attack in advance and not prevent it? They ask themselves in Ankara, not here.
Will there be more such bombings on Syrian territory? Is a new war raging in Syria? And if there are military casualties? Is Turkey at war with Israel? After Gaza, Lebanon, Syria, Libya, Somalia, Sudan? Is this war underway in the Eastern Mediterranean, the Aegean Sea and the islands? Is Turkey intruding with such questions or is it a sober assessment of the situation? Because Israel has been in control of the Golan Heights for a very long time and are the statements of Sharaa, the interim president in Damascus, that they will regain the Golan Heights just empty words?
Israel is constantly conducting military operations in the border areas. They declare themselves to be protecting the Druze ethnic group. After eliminating Iran's influence in Syria /and is that so?/, does Tel Aviv really believe that Ankara's relations with Damascus are a “threat to Israel”? Israel also said that Iran was a threat to the security of the Jewish state and included it in its "threat assessment". Here too, the questions in Ankara are becoming more and more complicated, with the question of whether Ankara's reaction to Israel and the Netanyahu government is sufficient. Will the timid international reaction limit Israel's aggression and expansionist policy? Does Washington's occasionally condemnatory approach, including Trump's, to Netanyahu have the capacity to contain Israel? Apparently, such assumptions are not believed, since both Erdogan and Devlet Bahceli, a partner in Erdogan's party, openly express the thesis that "Israel poses a threat to Turkey". They say so in the Mejlis, the parliament, of Turkey. Fidan, the foreign minister, also claims in forums that "Israel's aggression and expansionist policy pose a threat to the region". He does not hide that the unlimited support of the US and the Western world, whatever else they say, fuels this threat. According to him, this was generally confirmed at the NATO summit in Ankara. And here there is a slight hope that if Netanyahu leaves after the elections in Israel in the fall, this will change the country's policy not only on Syria, but also in Gaza, Lebanon or the war against Iran. Many and difficult questions. The development of the processes that are taking place behind the scenes between the major geopolitical players is definitely expected. Regardless of Turkey's ambitions to squeeze in between them. And regardless of the conclusion of regional security alliances such as the so-called Sunni NATO with Saudi Arabia and Pakistan.
However, the fact is that Washington initiated meetings between representatives of Syria and Israel in Jordan to curb the growth of a new conflict in the region. They have no interest in new fighting or heating up the situation. MOSSAD is meeting with Shaibani and colleagues to “test the waters”. It is not easy since in Ankara they write that “every move by Greece is an Israeli move”, “every move by India is an Israeli move”, “every move by Cyprus is an Israeli move”, and Tel Aviv's formula is “intimidation of the countries of the Middle East with American power”. With its actions, it is actually pushing the US and Europe into a corner as a “terrorist organization”. The conclusions are along the lines of “a Turkish-Israeli war will definitely break out” and this is proof of how much anger has accumulated in Turkey, which has not shared the field, especially in Syria, with a player like Israel. It was necessary to put an "end to the Israeli territorial map and political history, to cleanse the geography". How does it sound like "as long as Israel remains on the regional map, there can be no peace in geography"? Or "the Israeli people do not have the qualifications to be a state"? The pride of the Turks has been hurt. Especially since they experience themselves as successful after the elimination of FETO, PKK with the policy of a "country without terror" and actions to cleanse the "foreign elements inside the country". It is claimed that "Turkey has a clear road map" and will cope before Israel tries to corner it. They threatened to burn Damascus, to hit Ankara with nuclear weapons? And they did not realize that if they tried to do it, there would be no country or nation left called Israel. You should see self-confidence and conviction of strength and power. It is said that "from the Golan Heights to Gaza, from the Eastern Mediterranean to Lebanon, the enormous power of Turkey has become unstoppable in the entire region". Attempts to stop Turkey on its own by drawing it into an unplanned conflict with Israel were based on assumptions that "the Western world will not allow the destruction of the Jewish state and it will strike Turkey". Rhetoric that is different and brings only tension with fears of losing control over the region. There is no faith that the theses of a regional war will hold. An endless regional war is not in anyone's interest. Even Israel's closest friends have not fallen for this bait. No countries have been found to fight for them. Attempts to mobilize Turkey and Azerbaijan are a complete failure. For the first time since the invasions of Iraq and Afghanistan, the military strategies of the US and Israel have been shattered, they say in Ankara. A breakthrough? After Ankara has opened both its eyes to Washington? But there is also “we have revenge for the destruction of the Ottomans, and history has already turned, they will appear”. Then there is “Israel is a one-week state, and Tel Aviv is a one-day city”. A complete leap forward. But they know that ”no power can draw maps in this geography without Turkey”. It is unlikely that it will come to “ruthless revenge on Israel”, but elections are coming up and this is a good way to incite voters.
The truth is that the world does not consist only of Israel and the US. There are many knots around Israel and these knots need to be untied. But not through a new war that will blow up the world.
And whether Israel changes the property map in Cyprus and the settlement of thousands of Jews in the island state will lead to the danger of concentration of property under the guise of investments in the Eastern Mediterranean is a topic that further worries Ankara and is unlikely to remain without reactions. Obviously it follows. It is not far from Sofia. We are again close to conflict zones.