ISTANBUL: Turkish President Tayyip Erdogan has called Israel a terrorist state, saying his country will not allow the disintegration of n...
ISTANBUL: Turkish President Tayyip Erdogan has called Israel a terrorist state, saying his country will not allow the disintegration of neighboring Syria.
"Israel is a terrorist state that does not recognize law or principles," Erdogan said in an address to the nation as broadcast by TRT Haber TV channel.
"Under the pretext of the Druze situation, Israel has shifted its criminal actions over the past two days to neighboring Syria. Israel's aggression is the biggest problem facing our region today. Those who follow Israel's example will sooner or later realize that they have miscalculated badly. Just as we did not allow the disintegration of Syria yesterday, we will not allow it either today or tomorrow. Our fundamental policy is to protect territorial integrity and unity of Syria."
Erdogan gave these comments after a cabinet meeting he headed. Before the meeting, the Turkish president held a telephone conversation with interim Syrian President Ahmed al-Sharaa to welcome a ceasefire in Syria and express Ankara's support.
The situation in southern Syria escalated on July 13, when clashes broke out in the province of Al-Suwayda between Arab tribal militias and Druze mountain self-defense units. On July 15, the Syrian army entered the eponymous provincial administrative center and began to clean it up to stabilize the situation. Shortly after that, Israel attacked military convoys of the Syrian army, arguing that it wanted to protect the Druze population of the province, and on July 16 it bombarded several strategic facilities in the Syrian capital.
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