ANKARA (Reuters) -Turkish and Israeli officials began talks on Wednesday aimed at preventing unwanted incidents in Syria, where militaries of the two regional powers are active, Turkish ministry sources and an Israeli political source said on Thursday.
The Turkish sources said the technical talks, in Azerbaijan, marked the beginning of efforts to set up a channel to avoid potential clashes or misunderstandings over military operations in the region.
“Efforts will continue to establish this mechanism,” one of the Turkish sources said, without providing further details on the scope or timeline of the talks.
An Israeli political source confirmed the meeting took place and said that “Israel made it unequivocally clear that any change in the deployment of foreign forces in Syria – and in particular the establishment of Turkish bases in the Palmyra area – is a red line and will be considered a breaking of the rules.”
Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s office confirmed in statement that an Israeli delegation led by National Security Advisor Tzachi Hanegbi had held talks with Turkish officials in Azerbaijan on Wednesday.
The statement did not give details about the talks.
The initiative comes a week after Israel stepped up airstrikes on Syria, which it described as a warning to the newly formed government in Damascus. It has also accused Turkey of attempting to turn Syria into a Turkish protectorate.
Reuters reported last week that Turkish military teams had inspected at least three air bases in Syria where they could deploy forces as part of a planned joint defence pact with Damascus – before Israel hit the sites with airstrikes.
Turkey and Israel – which have traded diplomatic barbs since Israel’s attacks began on Gaza in 2023 – each said last week they did not seek confrontation in Syria, which both border.
Turkish Foreign Minister Hakan Fidan confirmed on Wednesday that technical talks were taking place, emphasizing that such mechanisms were necessary to prevent misunderstandings between the two regional powers’ forces.
The talks were similar to deconfliction mechanisms Turkey has with the U.S. and Russia, he said on broadcaster CNN Turk.
(Reporting by Ece Toksabay; Editing by Jonathan Spicer, William Maclean)
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