Turkey nearly responded to Israeli strike on Syrian airbase, U.S. envoy says

Eight strikes damaged the runway and storage facilities at the base, which lies roughly 70 kilometres from the Turkish border and hosts remnants of Syria’s air fleet. Syrian state media reported no casualties. The Israeli military did not comment.

A Turkish military delegation had inspected the site the previous day. U.S. Special Envoy for Syria and Ambassador to Turkey Tom Barrack told Reuters that Ankara received no prior warning of the attack. Turkish forces observed Israeli aircraft heading north toward their territory and could reasonably have prepared a response. “Thankfully, calm heads were able to prevent the situation from deteriorating further,” Barrack said. He also noted that the strike appeared driven by Israel’s perception – accurate or otherwise – that Turkey might soon expand its presence at the base.

Israel’s Prime Minister’s Office later stated that Israel and Syria had a security understanding that Damascus was on the verge of breaching by allowing Turkish troops to deploy at an airbase. Israel said it had warned Syria against such a move beforehand. The statement did not name Abu al-Duhur specifically.

Ankara issued three separate condemnations. The Turkish Foreign Ministry accused Israel of reckless attacks that violate Syria’s territorial integrity and unity, calling on the international community to hold Israel accountable. Presidential Communications Director Burhanettin Duran described the strike as part of a policy of aggression that threatens regional peace and reaffirmed Turkey’s support for Syrian sovereignty. AK Party spokesman Ömer Çelik used sharper language, labelling the Netanyahu government a “genocide network” that turns on Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan when under domestic pressure and predicting it would eventually face justice.

The episode follows a similar pattern from March 2025, when Israeli jets struck the T4 airbase in Homs province hours before a Turkish delegation was due to inspect it over concerns that Ankara might station air-defence systems and drones there. That earlier incident prompted Turkey and Israel to begin establishing a bilateral deconfliction mechanism – arrangements designed to prevent accidental clashes while both countries operate in Syrian airspace. Turkey already maintains similar channels with the United States and Russia.

Barrack said Washington is now working to expand deconfliction into a trilateral framework involving Israel, Turkey and Syria. Tuesday’s strike at Abu al-Duhur indicates that the existing bilateral arrangement did not cover every contingency, and that Syria itself is being drawn more directly into the process.

Turkey-Israel relations remain deeply strained, marked by sharp public rhetoric over the Gaza conflict and competing interests in Syria, yet underpinned by pragmatic security coordination, reflecting a mutual interest in managing rivalry rather than open confrontation.

The incident underscores the fragile balance of interests in post-conflict Syrian airspace, where residual Syrian military assets, Turkish security concerns along its southern border, and Israeli efforts to limit external military footholds continue to overlap.

The article by EUalive’s partner Bosphorus News can be found here.

Caption: US Special Envoy for Syria and Ambassador to Turkey Tom Barrack [Bosphorus News]