Netanyahu: We want to avoid any conflict with Turkey.
Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu was a guest of U.S. President Donald Trump at the White House.
During his second visit to the White House following President Trump's inauguration, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu made statements regarding 'Turkey' on Monday. President Trump indicated that they discussed 'Iran' with Netanyahu, while Netanyahu stated, "We do not want Syria to be used as a base for attacks against Israel by any country. We want to avoid any conflict with Turkey." Netanyahu noted that they discussed "how to prevent conflict" with Trump, adding, "I don’t think there is a better mediator than the U.S. president." The Israeli Prime Minister also assured that they would "zero out tariffs" in trade with the U.S. The Turkish Ministry of Defense has not yet made a statement regarding claims that they would establish a military base in Syria's Palmyra, as reported in the press. U.S. President Donald Trump had said in a speech in December 2024 that "Turkey was behind the events in Syria." Trump stated, "Erdogan is a very smart guy. He has wanted this for thousands of years and he succeeded. No one really knows who the winner is, but I think Turkey won." He continued, "Erdogan is a very smart and tough guy. Turkey took control in a non-hostile way with very little loss of life. Assad was a butcher. We saw what he did to the children." He also said, "Turkey is a great power, and Erdogan is someone I get along very well with. They have a great military power."
What happened? The civil war in Syria, ongoing for 13 years, concluded with the end of the Assad family’s 54-year rule and the Ba'ath Party's 61-year rule following a 12-day operation by HTS and other opposition groups in December. The HTS faction, which is based in Idlib in the northwest of the country and reportedly manages a population of around 4 million, launched the "Deterrence of Aggression - Rad'ul Udvan" operation against the Syrian government and army in Damascus on the morning of November 27, Wednesday, with the assistance of the Syrian National Army (SNA), supported by Turkey. The rapidly advancing opposition cut off the highway connecting Aleppo to Damascus on November 28, seizing the 46th Brigade base and at least 8 villages on the same day. By November 29-30, the country's second largest city, Aleppo, was in the hands of the opposition. Following this development, Russian and Syrian warplanes bombed positions believed to have been seized by the opposition in 2024 for the first time since 2016. The opposition groups under HTS control took Hama on December 4, Homs on December 7, and Damascus, where Assad governs, on December 8. After these developments, Assad flew to Moscow with his family under the asylum rights granted by Russia for "humanitarian reasons." HTS leader Colani, or his real name Ahmed Hussein al-Shara, declared the same day on Syrian state television that they had overthrown Assad.