Türkiye is engaged in talks with Israel to establish a deconfliction mechanism in their shared neighbor Syria, Defense Ministry sources said on Thursday but did not confirm Israeli media reports that the two countries had agreed to establish a hotline to prevent any military confrontation in Syria.
“Technical talks continue in coordination with our interlocutors on the establishment of the deconfliction mechanism to prevent undesirable incidents in Syria,” the ministry sources told Turkish media.
“As previously stated, news and information other than official statements should not be trusted,” they added.
Israeli media have claimed Tel Aviv and Ankara have set up a hotline to avert a confrontation between their armies in Syria.
Since the fall of the Assad regime in Syria late last year, Israel and Türkiye have been trading barbs over their presence in the country.
Ankara has had troops in northern Syria backing anti-regime forces and fighting terrorist groups, while Israel fears that Syria's new leadership will pose a new threat along its border.
Since December, Israel has moved its forces into the U.N.-patrolled demilitarized zone on the Golan and carried out hundreds of strikes against military targets in Syria.
Türkiye has called the Israeli strikes an encroachment on Syrian territories, warning of “greater instability and insecurity” across the Middle East, while Israel has said it would not allow any “hostile” forces in Syria.
Israel claims the Turkish presence in Syria is a “danger to Israel.”
Turkish-Israeli ties have long been frosty and deteriorated further over the war in Gaza.
NATO member Türkiye has been a fierce critic of Israel over its attacks on Gaza since 2023, saying they amount to genocide against the Palestinians and has applied to join a case at the World Court against Israel while also halting all trade.
Asked about Greece trying to keep Türkiye away from EU defence projects, the ministry sources said that any attempts to disregard Türkiye's importance for European security were bound to fail.
"Carrying bilateral disputes to multilateral platforms and putting forth an approach aimed at excluding our country is both a step that is not taken with good intentions, and not a smart one," the sources said.
Greek Prime Minister Kyriakos Mitsotakis on Thursday claimed Türkiye “must lift a 30-year-old war threat against Greece if it wants Athens to consent to Ankara accessing European Union defense funds.”
Greece and Türkiye, NATO allies but historic foes, have been at odds for decades over a range of issues from airspace to the extent of their maritime boundaries and ethnically split Cyprus.
In 1995, the Turkish Parliament declared a "casus belli," or cause for war, if Greece unilaterally expanded its territorial waters beyond 6 nautical miles in the Aegean Sea.
"If Türkiye wishes access to European defense financing tools, the legitimate concerns of both Greece and Cyprus should be taken into account," Mitsotakis said, referring to projects such as the EU's new flagship arms-buying fund, Security Action for Europe (SAFE).
"It has been 30 years since the Turkish National Assembly voted on the infamous casus belli. I think that 30 years later, the time has come to directly ask our Turkish friends to take it off the table," he told Skai radio.
Mitsotakis said he would convey the message to President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan soon, citing improved bilateral ties.
The Turkish government was not immediately available for comment.
“As a NATO and OSCE member, and EU candidate, Türkiye is an inseparable part of the European security architecture with its developing defense industry, key roles undertaken in resolving regional crises,” the Defense Ministry sources said, assuring they would continue to “explain Türkiye’s power to those do not understand it.”
Meanwhile, EU membership remains a strategic goal for Türkiye, they said, pointing out shared long-term strategic interests in defense, security, combating terrorism and preventing irregular migration.
“We believe that European security can only be strengthened with inclusiveness, strategic foresight and collective solidarity, and that a visionary approach is needed for this,” the sources said.
Ankara and Athens have been exploring whether they can start talks aimed at demarcating their maritime zones. Mitsotakis said that a high-level meeting between the two countries will take place in the coming months.
