Itay Ilnay
Israel Hayom, Feb. 24, 2025
“Erdogan looks at Syria as flesh of Turkey’s flesh, and not as a satellite state.”
Recent events in our region, especially in Syria, remind us of an important fact: Turkey is bigger than Turkey,” Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan said in a speech at the Turkish Academy of Sciences on December 18, 2024.
The Turkish president’s words should be read against the backdrop of the balance of terror between his country and Israel, which have long maintained a love-hate relationship, receiving a significant twist in the wake of the current war. This has intensified even further following the fall of the Assad regime and the establishment of the new government in Damascus, led by Ahmad al-Shara, who has enjoyed long-standing support from Ankara.
This is reflected, among other things, in the recommendations of the Nagel Committee, which were submitted to Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu last month. Although the committee was meant to examine the defense budget, its final report refers to the “Turkish threat” in razor-sharp words. “Israel may find itself facing a new threat that will emerge in Syria, which in some respects will be no less severe than the previous one,” it states. “The problem will be exacerbated if the Syrian force effectively becomes a Turkish proxy, as part of Turkey’s dream of restoring the Ottoman crown to its former glory. The presence of Turkish proxies, or Turkish forces, in Syria could deepen the danger of a direct Turkish-Israeli confrontation.”
The last words need to be read again: The Nagel Committee warns the prime minister of a “direct Turkish-Israeli confrontation,” no less, and calls on him to adopt a “completely different approach of ‘zero containment'” towards Syria, which otherwise could fall like ripe fruit into the hands of Erdogan’s army forces: “We must take into account that the entry of the Turkish army into Syria could lead to Syria’s rearmament at a relatively high speed,” the report states…..SOURCE