Turkey won’t abandon Syria or let Israel draw ‘red lines’, Erdogan says

Turkey won’t abandon Syria or let Israel draw ‘red lines’, Erdogan says Submitted by Ragip Soylu on Tue, 08/25/2026 - 18:14 Erdogan suggests "moribund" Netanyahu is stoking tensions with Turkey to shore up domestic support This handout photograph taken and released by the Turkish Presidential Press Service in Istanbul, Turkey on May 24, 2025, shows Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan (R) and Syria's interim President Ahmed al-Sharaa (L) shaking hands during their meeting. (Handout / Turkish Presidency) Off Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan responded on Monday to Israeli strikes on a Syrian military base last week, saying Ankara would not abandon its friends in the region and that no outside power could set the boundaries of Turkish foreign policy. Israel carried out several strikes on the Abu al-Duhur military airbase in northern Syria, approximately 70 kilometres from the Turkish border, claiming that Ankara was preparing to deploy air defence systems there.