Syria Denies Plans for Turkish Military Base

Syrian Foreign Minister Asaad al-Shaibani said on August 20 that Syria has no plans to establish a Turkish military presence at Abu al-Duhur air base, which was hit by Israeli airstrikes earlier this week. In an interview with the U.S. news outlet Axios, al-Shaibani confirmed that Turkish military officials had visited the base as part of broader military training and cooperation, but rejected the possibility of building a Turkish military base there, stressing that the facility is largely empty.

“There is no intention to establish a Turkish base there, nor are there plans to deploy permanent Turkish forces at this location,” al-Shaibani said, adding that he had made this clear to Israel.

Earlier, on August 19, Israel carried out eight airstrikes targeting runways and warehouses at the Abu al-Duhur base near Aleppo, according to Syrian state media. This is considered Israel’s first attack on Syrian government assets since March. No casualties were reported, but the incident drew international condemnation.

Al-Shaibani said Israel had no legitimate reason to attack the base. He said Syria remains ready to negotiate with Israel on de-escalation, but any future agreement must address the security concerns of both countries, while stressing that Israeli military operations would increase regional instability.

The airstrikes come amid rising security tensions between Israel and Turkey in Syria, where both countries’ militaries operate. Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said Israel had warned Syria before the attack not to allow Turkey to be present at the base. “Our message was very clear: don’t do it. I guess they didn’t get the message,” Netanyahu said on August 20.

The same day, Israeli Defense Minister Israel Katz accused Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan of “dragging Turkey into dangerous adventures in Syria.” “Israel will not allow any entity to threaten its security,” Katz said, adding that “Erdogan should continue making empty and delusional speeches against Israel in the Turkish parliament rather than testing Israel’s resolve to defend itself.”

Turkey has rejected what it called “baseless accusations” from Israel regarding its military position in Syria. On August 21, the Turkish Defense Ministry said Ankara would continue to support Syria in its efforts to develop its own military capabilities and infrastructure. They affirmed that no military delegation was at the air base before or during the Israeli strikes, and called on the international community to take more concrete and effective measures against Israel’s actions, which threaten regional peace and stability.

Turkey, a NATO member, has emerged as one of the main allies of Syrian President Ahmed al-Sharaa. Ankara has repeatedly accused Israel of seeking to destabilize Syria and weaken the new government, while calling for international pressure and measures to force Israel to respect Syria’s territorial integrity. Last year, Turkey and Israel established a communication channel to avoid incidents in Syria.