Ankara, Damascus top diplomats warn Israel over Syria action

ANKARA: Turkiye’s foreign minister and his Syrian counterpart on Wednesday warned Israel not to stir up chaos in Syria and demanded an end to all external interventions aimed at destabilising the war-torn country.

“Certain actors are bothered by the positive developments in Syria,” Turkish Foreign Minister Hakan Fidan said after talks with Syria’s Asaad al-Shaibani in Ankara, referring to Israel and Kurdish YPG fighters operational in northeastern Syria.

“Israel is currently one of the biggest actors in this dark picture,” he said of its ongoing military incursions since the overthrow of Syrian strongman Bashar al-Assad late last year.

“The emergence of chaos in Syria… appears to have become a priority for Israel’s own national security,” he said.

Standing next to him, Shaibani also warned against efforts to foster chaos in Syria.

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“We’re facing new challenges that are no less dangerous than those we encountered during the years of war, foremost among them are repeated Israeli threats… through airstrikes,” he said.

Fidan said efforts to destabilise Syria could be clearly seen in the March bloodshed in the coastal Alawite heartland of Latakia and in the recent deadly violence that gripped the southwestern Druze-majority province of Sweida as well as in the Kurdish-dominated northeast.

“The events in Latakia and Sweida and the failure to integrate the YPG (into the Syrian state) are evidence of the challenges and obstacles facing the positive process under way,” he said.

Shaibani said foreign actors were exacerbating the unrest within Syria.

“We are also confronting multiple foreign interventions, both direct and indirect… (that) push the country toward sectarian and regional strife,” he said without giving details but warning against “any reckless attempts to exploit events here”.

During the war, Assad’s government was backed by Russia, Iran and Hezbollah.

Fidan said the YPG – part of the US-backed Kurdish-led SDF but seen by Ankara as an extension of PKK militant group – remained a concern over its refusal to integrate into the Syrian state despite a March agreement to do so.

The PKK, which fought a decades-long insurgency against Ankara, is currently in the throes of disbanding as part of a peace agreement with the Turkish government.

“We have not seen any developments that indicate the organisation has eliminated the threat of armed action” nor sent home the foreign fighters in its ranks, he said.

“In an environment where Turkiye’s security demands remain unmet, we have no chance of remaining calm,” he warned.