Israel's attacks against Syria are one of the greatest destabilizing factors for the country, Turkey's Foreign Minister Hakan Fidan claimed at a joint news conference with Syrian counterpart Asaad Hassan al-Shaibani on Thursday.
"Israel's attacks targeting Syria's sovereignty and territorial integrity are among the greatest threats to the country's stability," he said, adding that Syria's stability was a shared responsibility for all the countries in the region.
Fidan also condemned Israel's attacks in Gaza, saying that they "have once again shown that Netanyahu does not want peace," and in the West Bank, calling them "acts of terror."
“Gazans will continue living in Gaza and building their future there," he stated about alleged Israeli plans to remove Palestinians from Gaza. ""Netanyahu will not succeed in this policy."
He also claimed that Israel was "dragging its feet" on transitioning to the second phase of the Gaza peace deal.
Sa'ar accuses Turkey of violating Syrian sovereignty
Foreign Minister Gideon Sa'ar pushed back against Fidan's statements on Israeli action in Syria, accusing Turkey of spending decades "violating the sovereignty of Syria while cynically lecturing others on international law."
According to Sa'ar, Turkey occupies 5% of Syria and intends to use the space to undermine Israeli security, while Israel only holds "one-tenth of one percent of Syrian territory" in the form of a buffer zone to protect itself from terror attacks.
"Under President Erdoğan, Turkey has carried out extensive military campaigns against Kurdish forces across Syria and Iraq, repeatedly threatened neighboring states, maintained its occupation of 36 percent of Cyprus for more than half a century, and drawn widespread international criticism for its human rights record," Sa'ar stated.
"What Minister Fidan wants is for Israel to stop protecting itself from threats to its security. This will not happen."