Israel, Turkey, and the contest for Syria
Middle East Forum · International · meforum.org
- Arabic title
- إسرائيل وتركيا والتنافس على سوريا
- English title
- Israel, Turkey, and the contest for Syria
- Published
- UTC
- Topic
- Displacement
From the text
Post-Assad Syria has become the primary theater in which competing visions for the region’s future are being tested. Israel’s August 18, 2026, strike against the Abu al-Duhur airbase hours after a Turkish delegation departed the facility crystalized the collision now shaping Syria’s trajectory: Turkish efforts to build a permanent military foothold against Israel’s need for aerial freedom, in a contest over which power will fill the vacuum Iran left in the Levant.
Turkish hegemony over Syria would be a strategic loss for the United States and it is a U.S. interest to prevent it.
Turkey is not,…source ↗