{"id":2762,"date":"2025-09-21T12:12:21","date_gmt":"2025-09-21T12:12:21","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/myanmarmuslim.news\/en\/?p=2762"},"modified":"2025-09-21T12:13:24","modified_gmt":"2025-09-21T12:13:24","slug":"is-turkiye-israels-next-target-in-the-middle-east","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/myanmarmuslim.news\/en\/2025\/09\/21\/is-turkiye-israels-next-target-in-the-middle-east\/","title":{"rendered":"Is Turkiye Israel\u2019s next target in the Middle East?"},"content":{"rendered":"\n<p><strong><em>Following Israel\u2019s Doha strikes, Ankara is increasingly on high alert over Tel Aviv\u2019s regional ambitions.<\/em><\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan, left, and Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu [File photo]<\/p>\n\n\n\n<figure class=\"wp-block-embed is-type-video is-provider-youtube wp-block-embed-youtube wp-embed-aspect-16-9 wp-has-aspect-ratio\"><div class=\"wp-block-embed__wrapper\">\n<iframe loading=\"lazy\" title=\"T\u00fcrkiye Enters the Hypersonic Age with Tayfun Block-4 Missile Boasting 800 km Range at Mach 5\" width=\"640\" height=\"360\" src=\"https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/embed\/S2EeLF5nF1U?feature=oembed\" frameborder=\"0\" allow=\"accelerometer; autoplay; clipboard-write; encrypted-media; gyroscope; picture-in-picture; web-share\" referrerpolicy=\"strict-origin-when-cross-origin\" allowfullscreen><\/iframe>\n<\/div><\/figure>\n\n\n\n<p><a href=\"https:\/\/www.aljazeera.com\/author\/elis-gjevori\"><\/a><\/p>\n\n\n\n<figure class=\"wp-block-image\"><a class=\"avatar\" href=\"https:\/\/www.aljazeera.com\/author\/elis-gjevori\"><img decoding=\"async\" src=\"https:\/\/www.aljazeera.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/10\/Elis-Gjevori-1729519077.jpg?resize=96%2C96&amp;quality=80\" alt=\"\"\/><\/a><\/figure>\n\n\n\n<p>By&nbsp;<a href=\"https:\/\/www.aljazeera.com\/author\/elis-gjevori\">Elis Gjevori<\/a><\/p>\n\n\n\n<p><strong>Istanbul, Turkiye \u2013&nbsp;<\/strong>Just hours after Israel&nbsp;<a href=\"https:\/\/www.aljazeera.com\/news\/2025\/9\/9\/israel-attacks-hamas-leadership-in-qatar-all-to-know\">launched strikes<\/a>&nbsp;last week against Qatar \u2013 a United States-designated \u201cmajor non-NATO ally\u201d and one of Washington\u2019s closest Gulf partners \u2013 pro-Israel commentators quickly shifted their attention to Turkiye.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>In Washington, Michael Rubin, a senior fellow at the right-leaning American Enterprise Institute, suggested that Turkiye could be Israel\u2019s next target and warned that it should not rely on its NATO membership for protection.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<figure class=\"wp-block-embed is-type-video is-provider-youtube wp-block-embed-youtube wp-embed-aspect-16-9 wp-has-aspect-ratio\"><div class=\"wp-block-embed__wrapper\">\n<iframe loading=\"lazy\" title=\"Turkey Unveils Two New Massive Bombs as Erdogan Ramps Up Defence | Firstpost America | N18G\" width=\"640\" height=\"360\" src=\"https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/embed\/TP8m_0kLJy0?feature=oembed\" frameborder=\"0\" allow=\"accelerometer; autoplay; clipboard-write; encrypted-media; gyroscope; picture-in-picture; web-share\" referrerpolicy=\"strict-origin-when-cross-origin\" allowfullscreen><\/iframe>\n<\/div><\/figure>\n\n\n\n<p>On social media, Israeli academic and political figure Meir Masri posted, \u201cToday Qatar, tomorrow Turkey.\u201d Ankara responded sharply. In unusually harsh language, a senior adviser to President Recep Tayyip Erdogan wrote: \u201cTo the dog of Zionist Israel \u2026 soon the world will find peace with your erasure from the map.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>For months, pro-Israel media outlets have steadily escalated their rhetoric against Turkiye, portraying it as \u201cIsrael\u2019s most dangerous enemy\u201d.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Israeli commentators have also framed Turkiye\u2019s presence in the eastern Mediterranean as a \u201cthreat\u201d and its role in rebuilding post-war Syria as a \u201cnew rising danger\u201d.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>With Israel\u2019s regional aggression escalating and its war on Gaza showing no sign of ending, Turkish Foreign Minister Hakan Fidan&nbsp;<a href=\"https:\/\/www.aljazeera.com\/news\/2025\/8\/29\/turkiye-closes-airspace-to-israel-entirely-cutting-ties-over-gaza-war\">retaliated<\/a>&nbsp;in August by suspending economic and trade ties with Israel.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>\u201cIn Ankara, this [anti-Turkish] rhetoric is taken seriously, with Israel seen as seeking regional hegemony,\u201d Omer Ozkizilcik, non-resident fellow at the Atlantic Council, told Al Jazeera.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>\u201cTurkiye increasingly feels that Israeli aggression has no limits and enjoys American support,\u201d added Ozkizilcik.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<figure class=\"wp-block-embed is-type-video is-provider-youtube wp-block-embed-youtube wp-embed-aspect-16-9 wp-has-aspect-ratio\"><div class=\"wp-block-embed__wrapper\">\n<iframe loading=\"lazy\" title=\"800KM Kill Zone \u2013 West Watches As Turkey Enters Hypersonic Era With Tayfun Block-4 Missile | VERTEX\" width=\"640\" height=\"360\" src=\"https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/embed\/TSaBxjd09Mo?feature=oembed\" frameborder=\"0\" allow=\"accelerometer; autoplay; clipboard-write; encrypted-media; gyroscope; picture-in-picture; web-share\" referrerpolicy=\"strict-origin-when-cross-origin\" allowfullscreen><\/iframe>\n<\/div><\/figure>\n\n\n\n<p>The strikes on Qatar also likely underscored Ankara\u2019s doubts about US security guarantees as a NATO ally. Despite Doha\u2019s special ally status with Washington, Israel faced no visible pushback from the US, leading to questions over whether the US would truly see any attack on Turkiye as an attack on itself, as the NATO charter dictates.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Unlike many Arab states, however, \u201cTurkiye has long ago understood that it cannot rely on the US or NATO for its own national security interests,\u201d said Ozkizilcik.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<figure class=\"wp-block-embed is-type-video is-provider-youtube wp-block-embed-youtube wp-embed-aspect-16-9 wp-has-aspect-ratio\"><div class=\"wp-block-embed__wrapper\">\n<iframe loading=\"lazy\" title=\"Russia S-400s Still Active In NATO Nation? Turkey Refuses to Remove Putin\u2019s Defenses Amid US Threats\" width=\"640\" height=\"360\" src=\"https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/embed\/EsFJXBk2Azs?feature=oembed\" frameborder=\"0\" allow=\"accelerometer; autoplay; clipboard-write; encrypted-media; gyroscope; picture-in-picture; web-share\" referrerpolicy=\"strict-origin-when-cross-origin\" allowfullscreen><\/iframe>\n<\/div><\/figure>\n\n\n\n<p>Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu himself now increasingly boasts of his country\u2019s&nbsp;<a href=\"https:\/\/www.aljazeera.com\/news\/2025\/8\/16\/arab-islamic-countries-condemn-netanyahus-greater-israel-remark\">regional expansionist goals<\/a>. In August, when asked whether he believed in the idea of a \u201cGreater Israel\u201d, he replied: \u201cAbsolutely.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n<figure class=\"wp-block-embed is-type-video is-provider-youtube wp-block-embed-youtube wp-embed-aspect-16-9 wp-has-aspect-ratio\"><div class=\"wp-block-embed__wrapper\">\n<iframe loading=\"lazy\" title=\"&quot;Three Times More Powerful Than...&quot; Turkey Unveils Gazap &quot;Wrath&quot; Non-Nuclear Aircraft Bomb\" width=\"640\" height=\"360\" src=\"https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/embed\/sWcoYL4CdMk?feature=oembed\" frameborder=\"0\" allow=\"accelerometer; autoplay; clipboard-write; encrypted-media; gyroscope; picture-in-picture; web-share\" referrerpolicy=\"strict-origin-when-cross-origin\" allowfullscreen><\/iframe>\n<\/div><\/figure>\n\n\n\n<p>For Ankara, such rhetoric is not just symbolic \u2013 it signals an Israeli vision of dominance that stretches across the Middle East, potentially clashing head-on with Turkiye\u2019s own regional outlook.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>On Sunday, Fidan told Al Jazeera that Israel\u2019s \u201cGreater Israel\u201d vision \u2013 which some religious Zionists believe extends into modern-day Syria, Lebanon, Egypt and Jordan \u2013 aims to \u201ckeep the countries in the region weak, ineffective, and especially to leave Israel\u2019s neighbouring states divided\u201d.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<figure class=\"wp-block-image size-large\"><img decoding=\"async\" src=\"https:\/\/www.aljazeera.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/09\/Interactive_Israel_attacks_nations_Sept10_2025-05-1757521668.png?quality=80\" alt=\"\"\/><\/figure>\n\n\n\n<p>Over the last few weeks alone, Israel \u2013 in addition to continuing its&nbsp;<a href=\"https:\/\/www.aljazeera.com\/news\/2025\/9\/16\/first-head-of-united-nations-body-declares-israels-gaza-war-a-genocide\">genocidal onslaught<\/a>&nbsp;in Gaza and nearly-daily raids in the occupied West Bank \u2013 also attacked&nbsp;<a href=\"https:\/\/www.aljazeera.com\/news\/2025\/9\/10\/maps-israel-has-attacked-six-countries-in-the-past-72-hours\">Yemen and Syria, and is accused of hitting the Gaza aid flotilla in Tunisia<\/a>.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Against this backdrop, Turkiye and Israel are already in a \u201cgeopolitical rivalry\u201d, noted Ozkizilcik, adding that Israel\u2019s actions clashed with what the analyst views as the \u201cTurkish agenda to have strong [centralised] states\u201d rather than decentralised states where multiple forces can hold power.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<figure class=\"wp-block-embed is-type-video is-provider-youtube wp-block-embed-youtube wp-embed-aspect-9-16 wp-has-aspect-ratio\"><div class=\"wp-block-embed__wrapper\">\n<iframe loading=\"lazy\" title=\"The HISAR Missile System: Turkey&#039;s Advanced Triple-Mode Guidance\" width=\"540\" height=\"960\" src=\"https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/embed\/67X1ORjHcfU?feature=oembed\" frameborder=\"0\" allow=\"accelerometer; autoplay; clipboard-write; encrypted-media; gyroscope; picture-in-picture; web-share\" referrerpolicy=\"strict-origin-when-cross-origin\" allowfullscreen><\/iframe>\n<\/div><\/figure>\n\n\n\n<h2 class=\"wp-block-heading\" id=\"regional-hegemon\">Regional hegemon<\/h2>\n\n\n\n<p>The sense that Israel is trying to become the region\u2019s sole dominant power seemed to be confirmed in July when Tom Barrack, US ambassador to Turkiye and special envoy to Syria, made a startling admission: that Israel would prefer a fragmented and divided Syria.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>\u201cStrong nation-states are a threat \u2013 especially Arab states, [which] are viewed as a threat to Israel,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<figure class=\"wp-block-embed is-type-video is-provider-youtube wp-block-embed-youtube wp-embed-aspect-9-16 wp-has-aspect-ratio\"><div class=\"wp-block-embed__wrapper\">\n<iframe loading=\"lazy\" title=\"Turkey&#039;s New &quot;Steel Dome&quot; Missile Defense System Explained!#turkey#missiledefense#radarsystems#ai\" width=\"540\" height=\"960\" src=\"https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/embed\/i0lKhWl1qoo?feature=oembed\" frameborder=\"0\" allow=\"accelerometer; autoplay; clipboard-write; encrypted-media; gyroscope; picture-in-picture; web-share\" referrerpolicy=\"strict-origin-when-cross-origin\" allowfullscreen><\/iframe>\n<\/div><\/figure>\n\n\n\n<p>The subtext for Ankara was clear: Israel believes it needs to be the hegemon in the region to feel secure.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Israel\u2019s actions bear this out. It has bombed Syria dozens of times since December 8 \u2013 when former President Bashar al-Assad fled to Moscow \u2013 and&nbsp;<a href=\"https:\/\/www.aljazeera.com\/news\/2024\/12\/8\/israel-seizes-buffer-zone-in-syrias-golan-heights-after-al-assad-falls\">grabbed Syrian territory<\/a>&nbsp;in the immediate chaos.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>It decapitated much of&nbsp;<a href=\"https:\/\/www.aljazeera.com\/news\/2024\/9\/28\/israels-military-says-it-has-killed-hezbollah-leader-hassan-nasrallah\">Hezbollah\u2019s leadership<\/a>&nbsp;in 2024 and still occupies parts of Lebanon despite a ceasefire, long seeking to weaken or destroy the group.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>In June, Israel attacked Iran, sparking a 12-day war that struck Iranian military and nuclear facilities, killing senior commanders and nuclear scientists, and dragged in the US.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>The attacks aimed not only to weaken Tehran\u2019s defence and nuclear capabilities but also to push Washington towards regime change, targeting one of Israel\u2019s strongest rivals in the region.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Israel may now view Turkiye as the next potential challenge to its regional hegemony, explaining its adamant stance that Ankara will not be allowed to establish new bases in Syria that \u201ccould threaten Israel\u201d \u2013 as Netanyahu has previously said.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>\u201cThe first manifestation of Turkish-Israeli friction will most likely appear in the Syrian front in the land and air,\u201d warns Cem Gurdeniz, a retired Turkish admiral and architect of the&nbsp;<a href=\"https:\/\/www.aljazeera.com\/news\/2020\/9\/30\/turkey-touts-past-maritime-conquests-ahead-of-talks-on-dispute\">Blue Homeland doctrine<\/a>, a maritime strategy that calls for Turkiye to assert its sovereignty and safeguard its interests across the surrounding seas \u2013 the Aegean, Eastern Mediterranean and Black Sea.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>\u201cIn parallel, Israel\u2019s deepening military and intelligence footprint in Cyprus, tightly woven with Greece and the Greek Cypriot administration under American auspices, is perceived in Ankara as a deliberate attempt to fracture and contain the Blue Homeland,\u201d Gurdeniz told Al Jazeera.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>\u201cTo Ankara, this is not a defensive posture by Israel but an offensive encirclement strategy that could threaten both Turkish maritime freedom and the security of the Turkish Cypriot people,\u201d he added, referring to Turkiye\u2019s ties to the self-proclaimed Turkish Republic of Northern Cyprus, which is only Turkiye recognises, rather than the rest of Cyprus, which is ruled by Greek Cypriots.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>The division of Cyprus is a major source of discontent between Turkiye, Greece and Cyprus.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Reports that Cyprus received Israeli air-defence systems last week are likely to raise alarm in Ankara.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>In tandem in Syria, Israel has made no secret that what it considers to be a stable Syria \u201ccan only be a federal\u201d one with \u201cdifferent autonomies\u201d, Israeli Foreign Minister Gideon Sa\u2019ar told European leaders at a meeting in Brussels in February.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Turkiye, on the other hand, backs the new Syrian administration, which insists on a centralised and unitary state.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>For now, tensions between Israel and Turkiye can be described as \u201ccontrolled\u201d, says Gokhan Cinkara, director of Necmettin Erbakan University\u2019s Global and Regional Studies Centre in Turkiye.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>\u201cAt present, the riskiest scenario for Turkiye would be an uncontrolled outbreak of intergroup conflict in Syria. For this reason, Ankara is likely advising the new Syrian administration to act with a degree of rational pragmatism,\u201d Cinkara told Al Jazeera.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>The immaturity of Syria\u2019s security apparatus makes any potential intergroup clashes harder to contain, and risks turning it into protracted ethnic and sectarian conflicts. In the short term, therefore, adopting a unitary model seems difficult,\u201d he added.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<h2 class=\"wp-block-heading\" id=\"red-lines-and-risks\">Red lines and risks<\/h2>\n\n\n\n<p>Netanyahu, for his part, is pushing for a \u201cBalkanised\u201d Syria, divided along ethnic and religious lines, demanding the&nbsp;<a href=\"https:\/\/www.aljazeera.com\/news\/2025\/7\/17\/not-just-about-the-druze-israels-rationale-for-its-attacks-on-syria\">demilitarisation of much of southern Syria<\/a>, mostly populated by the country\u2019s Druze population.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>That is a move that, if implemented, could light the touchpaper and ignite demands from members of other groups in the country, including the Kurds and Alawite, for their own tailored versions of de facto autonomy.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>\u201cTurkiye, however, has clear red lines in Syria,\u201d says Murat Yesiltas, director of foreign policy research at SETA, a think tank in Ankara with close ties to the government.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>\u201cThe US and Israel\u2019s attempt to reshape the regional order carries various dangers and risks, deepening fragmentation in the Middle East,\u201d Yesiltas told Al Jazeera.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>In March, Israel\u2019s most influential security think tank, the Institute for National Security Studies (INSS), published a piece that warned against the nascent peace process between&nbsp;<a href=\"https:\/\/www.aljazeera.com\/news\/2025\/7\/11\/pkk-begins-disarmament-process-after-40-years-of-armed-struggle-in-turkiye\">Turkiye and the Kurdistan Workers\u2019 Party (PKK)<\/a>, which is seeking to close a chapter on a four-decade armed campaign against the Turkish state in a conflict that has killed more than 40,000 people.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<figure class=\"wp-block-image size-large\"><img decoding=\"async\" src=\"https:\/\/www.aljazeera.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/03\/INTERACTIVE-Israel-bombs-Syria-air-bases-March-25-2025-1742889981.png?w=770&amp;resize=770%2C963&amp;quality=80\" alt=\"\"\/><\/figure>\n\n\n\n<p>The INSS warned that this could \u201cweaken the ability of the Kurds in Syria to continue to operate autonomously\u201d and contribute to Ankara \u201cexpanding its influence in southern Syria, in a way that could increase the threat to Israeli freedom of action\u201d.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Israel\u2019s Defence Minister Israel Katz made clear that swaths of newly occupied territory in southern Syria will be held for an \u201cunlimited amount of time\u201d.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>As Turkiye scoped out potential military bases in Syria\u2019s Homs province and the main airport in Hama province in coordination with the newly established Damascus government, Israel bombed the sites.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>\u201cIf Tel Aviv persists on this path, a conflict between Ankara and Tel Aviv will become inevitable. Turkiye cannot accept policies that perpetuate instability on its southern border,\u201d said Yesiltas.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>But full-blown rivalry is \u201cnot inevitable\u201d as both sides recognise the costs of confrontation, particularly given economic interdependence, Andreas Krieg, associate professor of security studies at King\u2019s College London, told Al Jazeera.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>\u201cIsrael\u2019s threat to Turkiye is not conventional military aggression but rather the targeting of Turkish interests via indirect means,\u201d said Krieg, speaking about Ankara\u2019s interests in Syria, the Eastern Mediterranean and the South Caucasus.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Given Washington\u2019s full and seemingly unconditional support for Netanyahu\u2019s bid to \u201creshape the region\u201d, Krieg says Ankara\u2019s prescription is to \u201cstrengthen strategic deterrence, especially through expanded air-defence, missile systems and intelligence capabilities\u201d and to pursue regional coalitions with Qatar, Jordan and Iraq while maintaining open channels with Washington to \u201cavoid full strategic isolation\u201d.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>\u201cAnkara must recognise that future flashpoints are more likely to emerge in the grey zone \u2013 covert operations, air strikes, and proxy competition \u2013 than in formal declarations or diplomacy,\u201d he added.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Following Israel\u2019s Doha strikes, Ankara is increasingly on high alert over Tel Aviv\u2019s regional ambitions. Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan, left, and Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu [File photo] By&nbsp;Elis Gjevori Istanbul, Turkiye \u2013&nbsp;Just hours after Israel&nbsp;launched strikes&nbsp;last week against Qatar \u2013 a United States-designated \u201cmajor non-NATO ally\u201d and one of Washington\u2019s closest Gulf partners [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":2763,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[2,16,25,15],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-2762","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-international-news","category-opinion","category-science-it-ai-military-war","category-world-muslims"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/myanmarmuslim.news\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2762","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/myanmarmuslim.news\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/myanmarmuslim.news\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/myanmarmuslim.news\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/myanmarmuslim.news\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=2762"}],"version-history":[{"count":2,"href":"https:\/\/myanmarmuslim.news\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2762\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":2765,"href":"https:\/\/myanmarmuslim.news\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2762\/revisions\/2765"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/myanmarmuslim.news\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/2763"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/myanmarmuslim.news\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=2762"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/myanmarmuslim.news\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=2762"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/myanmarmuslim.news\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=2762"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}