Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan accused Israel on Friday of sowing divisions in Syria in a bid to “dynamite” the “revolution” that toppled dictator Bashar al-Assad.
Advertisement
Turkey is a key backer of Syria’s new leader Ahmed al-Sharaa, whose Islamist group Hayat Tahrir al-Sham (HTS) led the rebel coalition that ousted Assad in December.
“Israel is trying to dynamite the December 8 revolution by stirring up ethnic and religious affiliations and turning minorities in Syria against the government,” Erdogan told a forum in the southern Mediterranean resort of Antalya.
Sharaa, who arrived in Antalya earlier in the day, met with Erdogan on the sidelines of the diplomacy forum, with the Turkish presidency posting a photo of the two shaking hands on X.
A Syrian foreign ministry statement said the talks emphasised “Turkey’s support for the Syrian people for reconstruction and lifting the economic sanctions on Syria”.
Advertisement
The talks also addressed “strengthening joint cooperation between the two countries in different sectors”, the statement said.