Report: Israel Used Turkish Base to Attack Syria

Turkish FM Denies Report, Israel Mum

According to a report from Russia Today citing unnamed sources, Israel used a military base inside Turkey to launch an attack on a northern Syria coastal base earlier this month.

Turkey has been outspokenly in favor of regime change in Syria, and has eagerly backed all Syrian rebel factions, even some of those with ties to al-Qaeda. That’s been controversial, but giving Israel military access to their soil to stage attacks would likely spark a major backlash, with many in Turkey still angry at their on-again, off-again ally for the Mavi Marmara massacre.

Turkish Foreign Minister Ahmet Davutoglu denied the report, insisting that his government would never be a partner in attacks on a neighbor. This would be a more credible denial if they weren’t already doing this with respect to rebel factions.

Another report, this time from a Lebanese media outlet, says that in the lead-up to the Israeli attack, Israeli officials sought intelligence from Syrian rebels, delivered by way of Turkey, to make sure no Russians were present at the base during the attack.

Israel, of course, remains mum on the entire matter, so far refusing to confirm it’s role in the attack, despite US officials already going on record and confirming it for them.

Author: Jason Ditz

Jason Ditz is Senior Editor for Antiwar.com. He has 20 years of experience in foreign policy research and his work has appeared in The American Conservative, Responsible Statecraft, Forbes, Toronto Star, Minneapolis Star-Tribune, Providence Journal, Washington Times, and the Detroit Free Press.