Fidan: Turkey has no intention to enter into conflict with any country in Syria

Foreign Minister Hakan Fidan said that Turkey has no intention to enter into conflict with any country in Syria, but it also cannot remain a bystander if instability emerges in a neighboring country that will pose a threat to the country.

“As Turkey, we have no intention of entering into conflict in Syria – not with Israel or any other country. Syria is an independent nation, and we are now facing a new Syria,” Fidan told a live broadcast on CNN Türk, adding that it was necessary to allow the new administration in Syria to shape its own defense policy, foreign policy, and regional affairs.

He warned that trying to take preemptive measures based on speculative assumptions, as Israel is doing, only leads to provocation.

Fidan also said that the platform Turkey established together with regional countries – including Jordan, Iraq, and Lebanon, with Syria’s participation – was proving highly effective, particularly in addressing security challenges.

He pointed out that this platform represents the first serious initiative in many years where a free and sovereign Syria voluntarily engages with neighboring countries.

“As we have consistently stated, Israel’s ongoing operations serve neither Syria’s security nor Israel’s.
In the long run, they will only fuel greater instability and insecurity across the Middle East. Therefore, as Turkey, we must act proactively – through diplomacy and other measures – to contain this crisis before it escalates further,” Fidan said.

Turkey open to deconfliction mechanisms in Syria

Asked whether Turkey would engage in U.S.-brokered talks with Israel, Fidan clarified that while such decisions rest with President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan, Turkey’s policy priority is preventing direct conflict between regional actors and Ankara remains committed to its pledge to not resume diplomatic or economic relations with Tel Aviv until a permanent cease-fire is established.

“We’re already conducting military operations in areas with U.S., Russian, Iranian and Jordanian presence. Just as we have established deconfliction mechanisms with these actors, similar arrangements with Israel are possible and should be technical in nature.”

Fidan emphasized that this was not about normalization with Israel but about operational safety.

“Coordination and deconfliction are standard military protocols – not special treatment for Israel,” he noted.

Edited by Raghda Sawas