ANKARA: 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 Adviser Tzachi Hanegbi had held talks with Turkish officials in Azerbaijan on Wednesday.

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.

Agency 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. Turkiye and Israel each said last week they did not seek confrontation.

Published in Dawn, April 11th, 2025