Israel and Turkey will seek to avoid direct conflict in Syria, but their expanding military presence in the country -- combined with their contrasting ambitions and backing of different armed groups -- could still lead to limited clashes. In recent weeks, Israeli and Turkish delegations have held technical talks to establish a deconfliction mechanism in Syria, where both countries have expanded their military presence following the Dec. 8 collapse of Bashar al Assad's regime. In an April 9 interview with CNN Turk, Turkish Foreign Minister Hakan Fidan said that "there are technical contacts to prevent combat elements from misunderstanding each other," which would contact each other "when needed" to prevent clashes between the two countries, whose relations have soured since the start of the Hamas-Israel war in October 2023. Since al Assad's fall, both the Turkish and Israeli governments have levied accusations against each other regarding their respective operations in...
