Syria’s new president, Ahmed al-Shara’a (aka Abu Mohammad al-Julani) met Tuesday (Feb. 4) with President Recep Tayyip Erdogan in the Turkish capital, Ankara, according to the Turkish Daily Sabah news outlet.
The meeting was held on the same day that Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu is set to meet with President Donald Trump at the White House.
Al-Shara’a flew in to the Turkish capital from Saudi Arabia following a round of visits with wealthy Gulf state leaders appealing for aid to rejuvenate and rebuild his war-torn country.
Erdogan provided heavy support for Hayat Tahrir al-Sham (HTS), the terrorist organization headed by al-Shara’a, in its efforts to topple the regime of former President Bashar al-Assad.
But the two men have never met in person, until now.
Al-Shara’a and Erdogan were expected to discuss a joint defense pact that would allow for Turkish airbases in the Badiyah area of central Syria, enabling Turkey’s military to use Syrian airspace for its purposes. In return, the Turkish military would train Syria’s new army, according to four sources quoted by Reuters.
Turkey, hoping to fill the vacuum left by the departure of Iranian and Russian forces in Syria, has already reopened its diplomatic mission in Damascus; Erdogan’s intelligence chief and foreign minister hurried to be among the first to meet with al-Shara’a after his forces overthrew the Assad government last December.
But if Turkey succeeds in establishing military bases in central Syria, such a move would likely prove a new, possibly deadlier threat to the Jewish State.
Speaking to members of his governing AK party on July 28, 2024, Erdogan openly threatened to invade Israel.
“We must be very strong so that Israel can’t do these things to Palestine. Just as we entered Karabakh, just as we entered Libya, we might do the same to them. There is nothing we cannot do. Only we must be strong,” he told the party conference in his hometown, Rize.
The remark came as Israel was mulling a ground invasion of Lebanon to eliminate the years-long threat to northern Israel by the Hezbollah terrorist army, a proxy of Iran.
Erdogan has threatened Israel repeatedly after its forces waged war against Gaza’s Hamas terrorist organization, which invaded Israel and slaughtered some 1,200 on Oct. 7, 2023.
The Turkish president has long maintained warm and cozy ties with the Hamas leadership, identifying Hamas not as a terrorist entity but as “mujahadeen” freedom fighters, according to the Foundation for Defense of Democracies.
Erdogan publicly honors senior Hamas leaders and has long hosted top Hamas operatives in Ankara, providing the terrorist organization with diplomatic, logistical and financial support for decades.
