Syrian official says ‘no plans’ to establish Turkish military presence

The foreign minister says in an interview that Turkish military officials had visited the airbase as part of training.Syria has no plans to establish a Turkish military presence at the Abu al-Duhur airbase attacked by Israel earlier this week, Foreign Minister Asaad al-Shaibani has said.Al-Shaibani said in an interview with the US news outlet Axios on Wednesday that while Turkish military officials had visited the site as part of training and broader military cooperation, he denied any Turkish military build-up, explaining that the facility was largely empty.Recommended Stories list of 3 itemslist 1 of 3Australian anger as Israel drops World Central Kitchen deaths caselist 2 of 3Oil flows nearly tripled before US-Iran MoU expired, analysis showslist 3 of 3Netanyahu warns Israel will not tolerate Turkish military presence in Syriaend of list“There was no intention to establish a Turkish base there, nor to establish a permanent Turkish military presence or deploy Turkish forces at the site,” al-Shaibani said, adding that he had made this clear to Israel.On Tuesday, Israel carried out eight air strikes on the runway and storage facilities at the Abu al-Duhur base near Aleppo, state media reported, in what appeared to be Israel’s first attack on Syrian government assets since March.No casualties were reported from the attack, which drew international condemnation.Al-Shaibani said Israel had no legitimate justification for attacking the facility.He said that while Syria remained open to negotiations with Israel on de-escalation, any future deal must address the security concerns of both countries, reiterating that Israeli military operations would increase regional instability.The strikes came amid worsening security tensions between Israel and Turkiye over Syria, where both countries’ militaries are active.Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said Israel warned Syria ahead of the strike not to allow a Turkish presence at the base.