Turkey slams Israel's 'untenable' claims after strikes on Syrian base
Turkey has condemned Israeli airstrikes on a Syrian air base, rejecting claims that it intended to deploy troops there. Israel maintains that such a deployment would violate security agreements and threaten its regional stability, while Turkey accuses Israel of expansionist policies.
Why it matters
The escalation between Turkey and Israel over Syrian territory risks further destabilizing the Middle East and complicates the complex geopolitical landscape of the Syrian conflict.
Turkey firmly rejected on Wednesday (August 19, 2026) 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 was on the verge of permitting Turkish troops to deploy there.
Israel carried out airstrikes against the Abu al-Duhur base near Aleppo on Tuesday (August 18, 2026), drawing condemnation from Turkey and criticism from a U.S. envoy who called the attack an “unnecessary escalation”.
In a statement, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s office said late on Tuesday (August 18, 2026) that Syria was on the verge of violating a “status quo agreed with Israel in security matters” by allowing Turkish troops to deploy at the airbase, adding that such a deployment would threaten Israel’s security and that it would not tolerate this.
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