Turkey accused Israel of an “occupying mentality” after its forces entered a UN-patrolled buffer zone in the Golan Heights following the ousting of Syrian leader Bashar al-Assad, Agence France-Presse reported.
“We strongly condemn Israel’s entry into the separation zone between Israel and Syria,” a foreign ministry statement said, reiterating support for Syria’s “sovereignty, political unity and territorial integrity.”
“In this sensitive period, when the possibility of achieving the peace and stability the Syrian people have desired for many years has emerged, Israel is once again displaying its occupying mentality.”
The Golan Heights is a mountainous plateau at Syria’s southwestern edge, most of which was captured by Israel during the 1967 Six-Day War. Israel later annexed the territory.
It is separated from the Syrian side by a buffer zone patrolled by UN troops.
Israel on Saturday said its forces entered the buffer zone to defend UN peacekeepers as Islamist-led rebels swiftly advanced across Syria, in what Foreign Minister Gideon Saar has insisted was a “limited and temporary step” for “security reasons.”
Meanwhile, Turkish President Recep Erdoğan said on Tuesday that Syria must never be divided again and Turkey will act against anyone seeking to compromise its territory.
“From now on, we cannot allow Syria to be divided again… Any attack on the freedom of the Syrian people, the stability of the new administration, and the integrity of its lands will find us standing against it,” Erdoğan said.