Turkey, Israel hold talks to ease Syria tensions

Turkey is engaging in discussions with Israel to reduce the risks of escalation in Syria without seeking to normalize its relations with it, Turkish Foreign Minister Hakan Fidan announced Wednesday.

Turkey is a significant ally of the Islamist-led coalition in Syria, which ousted President Bashar al-Assad in December after nearly 14 years of civil war. Ankara's new influence in Syria concerns Israel, which has conducted a series of strikes and incursions to push Syrian forces away from its northern border. Last week, the U.N. accused Israel of attempting to "destabilize" Syria after deadly strikes. Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu demanded in late February the "complete demilitarization of southern Syria" and stated he would not tolerate the forces of the new power deploying south of Damascus. Turkey, for its part, has several thousand soldiers deployed on Syrian territory.

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Turkey 'does not want confrontation with Israel in Syria'

"Currently, while we are conducting some operations in Syria, a de-confliction mechanism (coordination to ensure the coherence of military actions and reduce the risks of escalation) is needed at some point with Israel, which flies its planes in this area, just as we do with the Americans and the Russians," Mr. Fidan told CNN Türk. "It is normal to have contacts at the technical level to define this," he added. The foreign minister specified, however, that this did not mean Ankara was normalizing its relations with Israel.

Turkey suspended its trade relations with Israel in reaction to the war it is waging in the Gaza Strip. Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan called Israel a "terrorist state" and denounced what he described as a "genocidal policy" pursued by the government of Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu since the October 7 attack carried out by the Palestinian Islamist movement Hamas in Israel.

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In Washington, a rift appears between Trump and Netanyahu

Donald Trump, who returned to the White House in January, offered Monday to mediate between Israel and Turkey, citing his good relationship with Erdogan.