Syria Admits Turkish Officers Visited Military Base

Syrian Foreign Minister Asad al-Shaibani strongly rejects Israeli claims that the bombing of the Abu al-Duhur airbase was intended to thwart a military foothold by Ankara. In an interview with the news site "Axios", the minister claimed that his government had explicitly clarified to Israel that there is no military cooperation of this kind at the site, but Israel chose to launch the attack anyway.

Israeli fighter jets dropped at least eight bombs on runways and hangars at the Syrian base, located about 72 km from the Turkish border. In response to the event, Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu released a video in which he stated:

"Our message was very clear - do not do this. I assume they did not really understand the message."

At the same time, US President Donald Trump confirmed to "Axios" that he was briefed on the matter, but refused to condemn the action and settled for the laconic response: "I cannot talk about this."

The Syrian minister provided a series of sharp quotes against the Israeli conduct:

"There was no intention to establish a Turkish base there, nor to institutionalize a permanent Turkish military presence or deploy forces at the site," declared al-Shaibani.

According to him, the work at the site "was limited to the restoration of the airfield and its facilities that were damaged in the war," with the goal of serving the Syrian Air Force only. He emphasized that the base was mostly empty and not yet fully restored, therefore the link between the attack and a Turkish military presence is not supported by the situation on the ground.

Although he admitted that Turkish officers visited the base a few days before the bombing, al-Shaibani insisted that it was "ongoing military cooperation in the fields of training and exchange of expertise only," as is done with other countries like Jordan and Russia. "Syria is a sovereign state," he said, "and has the right to establish cooperation relations and alliances with any country, including Turkey."

The minister revealed that Syria had passed messages to the US in an attempt to prevent the escalation: "We clarified to the Americans that we do not trust Israel's intentions." Despite the tension, he noted that Damascus is still open to negotiations to calm the border, provided Israel adheres to its commitments. "De-escalation cannot be the responsibility of one side only," he emphasized in conclusion. "Just as we take into account Israel's security concerns, it must also treat Syrian security concerns seriously and recognize that military actions will not bring long-term security."