Turkey’s moves in Syria threaten Israel - It is time for the United States to address the excesses of Turkey’s president.

March 28, 2025

By: Joseph Puder

Recep Tayyip Erdoğan, Turkey’s president, is not a likable person. Certainly not outside of Turkey, but also among a great many inside the country. Considered by many a megalomaniac who views himself as the caliph of the Sunni-Muslim world, he seeks to recreate the Ottoman Empire.

Some, like the jihadists who took over Syria with Erdoğan’s equipment, training and cash, look up to him. Though Bashar Assad’s downfall was, to some degree, at least Israel’s doing. The severe blows Israel inflicted upon Hezbollah and Iranian assets in Syria provided the jihadists led by Ahmed al-Sharaa (the nom de guerre for Mohammad al-Julani), a path to victory over Assad’s forces.

According to an article published in the Türkiye newspaper on March 17, “Turkey will train the country’s army in two military bases it will establish in Syria.” The paper also reported that “Turkey and Syria will sign a joint defense agreement. According to the agreement, which is expected to be signed soon, Ankara will help Syria if Damascus faces a sudden threat.”

Türkiye also reported the government’s plan to have 50 Turkish Air Force F-16 jetfighters nest inside the new bases to support and protect the Hayat Tahrir al-Sham (HTS) from collapse until a new Syrian air force is established.

Erdoğan has far greater ambitions than simply training Syrian Sunni rebels.

The U.K.-based Syrian Observatory for Human Rights has reported on a large-scale military mobilization by Turkish forces, along with an extensive deployment of mine engineering teams, in the villages of Mar’anaz, Al-Alqamiyah and Menagh in northern Syria.

Should Erdoğan deploy the F-16 jet fighters in Syria, it would threaten Israeli security and hinder Israeli preventive operations inside Syria.

Israel has established a temporary buffer zone on the Syrian slopes of Mount Hermon to protect its citizens in the Golan Heights from jihadist forces. It also seeks to prevent the jihadist butchery of Druze citizens of Syria who have sought Israel’s protection.

Erdoğan warned, ostensibly to Israel, that it must withdraw its forces from Syrian territory or it will cause an “unfavorable outcome for everyone.”

It takes a great deal of chutzpah for a character like Erdoğan, who has repeatedly ordered the Turkish army to invade Syrian territory to butcher Kurdish civilians and who holds territory in northern Syria, to warn Israel. Erdoğan plans to take full control of Syria, in his vision of creating a neo-Ottoman empire.

The Israeli Ministry of Foreign Affairs was quick to respond to the attempted intimidation tactics of Erdoğan, declaring in its statement, “Israel completely rejects the statement of the Turkish president.” The ministry statement further added, “The aggressive imperialist actor in Syria (as well as in Northern Cyprus, Libya and other areas in the Middle East) is Turkey itself, and it is advisable for the Turkish president to avoid unnecessary threats. The State of Israel will continue to act to protect its borders from any threat.”

In July 2024, Erdoğan threatened to invade Israel in support of the Palestinians. He stated at the time, “We must be very strong so that Israel can’t do these things to Palestine,” and, he said, “Just as we entered [Nagorno-]Karabakh, just as we entered Libya, we might do the same to them. There is nothing we can’t do. We must only be strong.”

Turkey’s president has escalated his attacks on Israel since the Oct. 7 Hamas massacre of more than 1,200 people. He has sought to incite the Sunni-Muslim world against Israel, and according to many in Israel, Erdoğan’s hostility toward Israel has reached a point where many in the Jewish state see a Sunni-Muslim crescent led by Erdoğan just as threatening as the Shiite-Muslim crescent led by Iran’s Ayatollah Khamenei.

A Turkish military presence on Syrian territory could present a real threat to the State of Israel. 

The Trump administration must consider measures against the megalomaniacal Turkish leader, who is unreliable insofar as NATO is concerned. Erdoğan purchased Russian S-400 missiles designed to shoot down NATO planes, and Russia provided the Turkish armed forces with advanced weapons capable of covering most of Syria, as well as their old adversary, Greece (also a NATO member), in contravention of NATO rules.

Under Erdoğan, religious minorities in Turkey are also faring badly, according to the U.S. Commission on International Religious Freedom. The commission pointed out that Turkish society in recent years has seen a marked increase in incidents of vandalism and violence against religious minorities, primarily Christians. The commission also declared that “Religious minorities in Turkey have expressed concerns that governmental rhetoric and policies contribute to an increasingly hostile environment and implicitly encourage acts of societal aggression and violence.”

With his incompetent handling of the Turkish economy and his avoidance of the difficult tasks required to heal it, Erdoğan seeks “victories” in foreign affairs, including his meddling in Jerusalem’s management of Islamic holy sites. 

In September, for instance, Erdoğan accused Israel of targeting the Al-Aqsa Mosque as part of an expansionist Israeli drive. He also urged the Organization of Islamic Cooperation to convene an emergency summit to discuss the war in Gaza and accused Israel of attacks on Muslims in Jerusalem.  

The Trump administration must reconsider providing F-16 jet fighters to Turkey, as well its place in NATO. The United States must also protect the Kurds of northeastern Syria from repeated attacks by the Turkish armed forces. 

Under Erdoğan, Turkey is fighting the Syrian Democratic Forces, an ally of the United States, and threatening Israel, America’s only reliable ally in the Middle East. It is time for the United States to address Erdoğan’s dangerous megalomania.

https://www.jns.org/turkeys-moves-in-syria-threaten-israel/