Israeli Foreign Minister Gideon Saar accused Ankara of hypocrisy, in response to criticism from Hakan Fidan regarding Israel’s actions in Syria. The Turkish Foreign Minister accused Israel of destabilizing Syria, with Saar pointing out that the criticism comes from a country that has been violating Syrian sovereignty for decades and maintains troops not only in Syria and Iraq, but also in occupied northern Cyprus.
“This is the same Turkish leadership that has been violating Syria’s sovereignty for decades, while cynically lecturing others on international law,” Saar stated in a post on Twitter.
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Sa’ar pointed out that Turkey occupies approximately 5% of Syrian territory and seeks to establish military bases within the country, with the aim, as he argued, to undermine Israel’s security.
In contrast, the security zone controlled by Israel, he noted, accounts for just 0.1% of Syrian territory, adding that this presence became necessary after Syrian terrorists entered, as he put it, into the demilitarized zone in December 2024, in violation of the 1974 Israel–Syria Agreement.
He also recalled the repeated Turkish operations against Kurdish forces in Syria and Iraq, as well as the ongoing Turkish military occupation of Cyprus.
“What Fidan wants is for Israel to stop protecting itself against threats to its security. That is not going to happen,” he stressed.
The new confrontation comes just days after Fidan’s meeting in Ankara with a Hamas delegation led by the terrorist organization’s new leader, Khalil al-Hayya. Fidan congratulated him on his election and reiterated Turkey’s support for Hamas.
Al-Hayya, who left Gaza before the massacre of October 7, 2023, and resides primarily in Qatar, had described the attacks, in which approximately 1,200 people were killed and 251 were abducted, a “source of pride” that must be passed down from generation to generation.
