Turkey on Friday condemned Israeli strikes on army camps in southern Syria, calling them a “dangerous escalation” and urging the international community to act.
“We view Israel’s attack targeting military infrastructure in southern Syria as a dangerous escalation and strongly condemn it,” the Turkish Foreign Ministry said in a statement, calling on the international community “to stop the Israeli attacks.”
Syria has so far avoided being drawn into the regional conflict that began on February 28, when Israel and the United States launched strikes on Iran. Iran has since responded by firing ballistic missiles and drones at countries across the region.
But on Friday the Israeli military said it had struck Syrian army camps in response to what it called attacks against the Druze community in the southern province of Sweida.
Since the conflict began, Turkey has repeatedly accused Israel of pursuing an “expansionist policy” and trying to drag other countries into the fighting.
Lebanon was drawn into the conflict on March 2, when Iran-backed Hezbollah attacked Israel in response to the killing of Iran’s supreme leader, Ali Khamenei. Israel responded with a sustained bombing campaign that has killed more than 1,000 people and displaced more than 1 million.
© Agence France-Presse