Turkey Tries to Keep Syria’s President Out of Direct Clash With Hezbollah

Turkey is working to prevent Syrian President Ahmad al-Sharaa from entering a direct confrontation with Hezbollah in Lebanon, it was reported Thursday evening on Kan News. Although Damascus sees Hezbollah as an enemy, according to a Syrian source close to the regime, in recent weeks Turkey has been advising al-Sharaa, a protégé of Erdogan, not to assist efforts by Israel and the Lebanese government to weaken Hezbollah. According to the same source, if Hezbollah is eliminated, Israel will grow stronger, an outcome Ankara views as undesirable.

Alongside Erdogan’s desire to keep Syria’s president from being drawn into a clash with Hezbollah, there is a counter-effort. This week, U.S. President Donald Trump said that al-Sharaa does in fact want to help in the fight against Hezbollah. As a result, the Syrian president is expected to arrive in Washington next week, where Trump will try to enlist al-Sharaa on the Hezbollah issue, despite Turkish opposition.

Over the past week, Turkish President Erdogan has sharply attacked Israel. Yesterday, in a speech to the Turkish parliament, he said that “Israel’s aggression is a threat to the world and must be stopped.” Netanyahu responded to Erdogan, and in a statement issued by the Prime Minister’s Office on his behalf, it said: “The antisemitic tyrant Erdogan, who is committing genocide against the Kurds, supports the terrorist organization Hamas, represses his own people and jails political opponents, is the last person who can preach to the State of Israel.”