'Playing with fire': Israel's Syria strike tests Turkey after Mecca defence pact

'Playing with fire': Israel's Syria strike tests Turkey after Mecca defence pact Submitted by Ragip Soylu on Wed, 08/19/2026 - 12:41 Ankara insiders see the attack as an attempt to undermine the defence pact and send a warning ahead of Erdogan’s planned Damascus visit Anti-government fighters check a Syrian army jet after they took over a military airbase near the central city of Hama, on 6 December 2024 (Omar Haj Kadour/AFP) Off Turkey has sought to downplay Tuesday’s Israeli strikes on the Abu al-Duhur military airbase in northern Syria, about 70km from the Turkish border, viewing them as an election stunt by Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu. Netanyahu has recently portrayed Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan and New York Mayor Zohran Mamdani as enemies of Israel in his election campaign materials. However, the attack - which immediately followed the signing of the Mecca defence agreement between Turkey, Saudi Arabia and Pakistan - suggests that Israel may be seeking to undermine Ankara's credibility as an ally in Syria.