Istanbul (AP) – a The Israeli strike At a meeting of Hamas officials in Qatar, he threw a cloud of growing anxiety across Türkiye that it could be the next goal.
The Turkish Defense Ministry spokesman, Admiral Zeki akurk in Ankara on Thursday, warned that Israel would expand its reckless attacks, as it did in Qatar, and withdraw the entire region, including its country, to a disaster.
Israel and Turkey were strong regional partners, but the relations between the two countries faced difficulties from the late first decade of the twentieth century and reached its lowest level ever during The war in Gaza On October 7, 2023, an attack led by Hamas in southern Israel arose. The tensions also rose, as happened in the two countries Compete In neighboring Syria since the fall of the government of Bashar al -Assad last year.
Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan was a long support for the Palestinian issue and the Palestinian Hamas Group. Turkish President, especially Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, criticized a severe speech since the beginning of the Gaza war, accusing Israel’s genocide and resembles Netanyahu to the Nazi leader Adolf Hitler.
Hamas officials regularly visit Türkiye and some of them have resided there. Israel had previously accused Turkey of allowing enthusiasm of planning attacks from its territory, as well as carrying out employment and collecting donations.
Erdogan is close to Qatar leaders and Türkiye maintains strong military and commercial relations for the emirate. He is scheduled to travel to Qatar at the end of this week to the summit of Arab and Muslim leaders.
After Israel’s attacks on Iran, Syria, Yemen, and now Qatar, Ankara must be interested in Israel’s ability to use the airspace of neighboring countries freely.
“Israel’s ability to carry out strikes with impunity, and often exceeds regional air defenses and international standards, puts a precedent Ankara deeply.”
Türkiye believes that these attacks are “a broader Israeli strategy to create a fragmented or quiet insulating zone around it.”
Türkiye has a superior military force
In crossing an unimaginable line by attacking Qatar, a nearby American ally was a mediator in Gaza talks to stop shootingIsrael also raised the issue of the extent to which it will go to follow the goals of Hamas.
Through its membership in NATO, it appears that Türkiye has a greater degree of protection against the Israeli attack than it provides its close relations with the United States.
Türkiye is also proud of the military force much greater than the state of the Gulf, as its armed forces were only second in the United States between the NATO countries and the advanced defense industry.
With high tensions, Türkiye has strengthened its defenses. During Israel’s attacks on Iranian nuclear facilities in June, Erdogan announced Increase in missile production. Last month, Türkiye officially opened “Steel Dome” The integrated air defense system, while projects such as the fifth generation fighter of Kaan were traced.
Ozjor Ondhisarcli, director of the German Marshall Fund in Ankara, said that an Israeli air strike on the lands of a member of NATO is “very unlikely”, but bombs or small weapons may be on the potential targets of Hamas in Turkey by Israeli agents.
Meanwhile, Cubukcuoglu said that the Qatar attack could harden Ankara’s support for Hamas.
He said: “This resonates with Turkish concerns that Israel may eventually extend these operations to Turkish territory.” “The Turkish government calculates that giving up Hamas will now weaken its regional influence, while the permanent company strengthens its role as a defender of the Palestinian causes against the Israeli aggression.”
Tensions can play in Syria
While attention focuses on the tensions surrounding the war in the relations of Gaza and Turkey with Hamas, Unluhisarcikli warned that the greatest danger may be in Syria, where Israel and Turkey described it as “in a collision path.”
He said: “The belief that targeting Turkish forces, Turkish allies, or agents in Syria will be to go away is thinking about wishing.”
Since the Syrian rebels The lion excreted In December, the growing tensions between Türkiye and Israel played there. Ankara has supported the new interim government and sought to expand its influence, including the military field.
Israel sees the new government with doubt. She has It seized an insulating area that is not full In southern Syria, hundreds of air strikes fired at the Syrian military facilities and put themselves as Druze religious minority protector Against the Sunni Muslim authorities in Damascus.
Tensions can also decrease to the eastern Mediterranean, where Israel is likely to approach Greece and Greek Cyprus to challenge the military presence of Turkey in northern Cyprus.
Türkiye mixes deterrence and diplomacy
Türkiye seems to be following a mixture of military and diplomatic deterrence in Syria aimed at defusing tensions to avoid direct conflict with Israel.
Turkish and Israeli officials held talks in April Create a “escalation mechanism” In Syria. This step followed Israeli strikes on a Syrian air base that Türkiye was planning to use. At that time, Netanyahu said that the Turkish bases in Syria would be “a threat to Israel.”
Ankara and Damascus signed an agreement last month to provide Türkiye last month Military training and advice To the armed forces in Syria.
Erdogan may also hope that Washington will take a difficult line against any Israeli military incursions.
While Netanyahu asked for support from US President Donald Trump in the confrontation with Türkiye, Trump instead of praising Erdogan for “seizing Syria” and Netanyahu urged to be “reasonable” In his dealings with Türkiye.
But as the strike in Qatar showed, the presence of strong relations with Washington is not necessarily a protection against Israel.
Unluhisarcikli said there was no limit to what the Israeli government could do.
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Sewell contributed from Beirut.
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Follow the AP coverage of the Israeli-Hamas war https://appnyws.com/hub/israel-hamas-war.
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