A Bayraktar Akıncı combat drone. Source: the Turkish Ministry of National Defense.
Turkey has begun taking steps to take over the T4 Air Base in central Syria, the Middle East Eye (MEE) reported on April 1, citing sources familiar with the matter.
The United Kingdom-based news website said that plans were underway to reconstruct and expand the air base, with the deployment of Turkish-made Hisar-type air defense systems and advanced surveillance and combat drones.
“A Hisar-type air defence system will be deployed to T4 to provide air cover for the base,” one of the sources said to MEE.
“Once the system is in place, the base will be reconstructed and expanded with necessary facilities. Ankara also plans to deploy surveillance and armed drones, including those with extended strike capabilities,” source added.
Turkey has nearly completed the development of two Hisar-type air defense systems, the short-range Hisar-A+ which can engage aerial targets within 15 kilometers and the medium-range Hisar-O+ which can deal with targets as far as 25 kilometers. It is unclear how many such systems are currently in service with the Turkish military.
Meanwhile, more than 200 combat drones are believed to be in service with the Turkish military, with the smaller Bayraktar TB2 type making the block of the fleet in addition to few dozen larger drones, like the Bayraktar Akıncı.
The T4, also known as Tiyas, is Syria’s largest air base. It is located in the eastern Homs countryside, right in the heart of the country.
The same source told MEE that Turkey wants to construct a layered air defense network around the base with short, medium, and long-range systems.
He also indicated that the temporary deployment of S-400 air defense systems to the T4 or the nearby Palmyra military airport was being considered for added protection during the reconstruction phase. However, such deployment would require approval from Russia.
Between 2019 and 2020, Russia develied four S-400 batteries, including over 190 missiles with ranges exceeding 100-200 kilometers, to Turkey.
While the first source told the website that the T4 would help Turkey establish aerial control across the region and support its efforts to combat ISIS, a second one noted that the presence of Turkish air defence systems and drones in the air base would likely deter Israel from launching strikes in the area.
Turkey showed interest in taking over both the T4 and Palmyra, and even discussed the matter with the Syrian Islmaist-led interim government right after the fall of the Assad regime.
Answering questions about the situation in Syria during a briefing on March 27, the Turkish Ministry of National Defense said: “In line with the demands of the new Syrian government and in agreement with the relevant states, a consensus has been reached on the establishment of a joint operations center. Work is ongoing within the scope of this development. Türkiye attaches great importance to the preservation of Syria’s territorial integrity, the new Syrian government’s establishment of state authority in all of Syria, and the establishment of stability and security in Syria.”
Israel has been growing impatient with Turkey’s attempts to establish a lasting military presence in Syria. In fact, both the T4 and Palmyra were hit more than once by Israeli strikes during March, with the Times of Israel later reporting that the attacks were meant as a message to Turkey.
In a report published on April 1, the Jerusalem Post revealed that discussions had intensified in Israel over Turkey’s possible establishment of air bases in Syria.
“If a Turkish air base is established in Syria, it would undermine Israel’s freedom of operation,” an Israeli security source told the news outlet.
While Israel has already demonstrated its willingness to take action against Turkish interests in Syria, a confrontation between the two sides remains highly unlikely. Turkey could seek some settlement with Israel before going forward with its military plans for the T4 and Palmyra.
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the duplicitous turks who promoted hts are likely posing as saviors for internal political reasons while claiming their share of the spoils and their new american zionist dimes.
israel and their us puppets will soon wish they had left assad in power. the islamists now in charge of syria will be a constant threat for israel once they gain strength.
the number of people who are going to be disappointed when this doesn’t happen… the islamists have already declared their “desire for a friendly relationship with israel” and they’re putting down the alawites who were even remotely anti-israel instead of defending syria’s southern border from an invasion by the aforementioned enemy state.
exactly. the “islamic state” and “al qaida” types are just proxies for nato israel and gulf arab nations. they have yet to fire a bullet at israel. any time some crazy person stabs someone or runs someone over in the us or europe, the government will claim they have links to these groups just to give them some type of credibility. but the mossad, cia, mit, etc. control these groups.
this is not what some people would think, 1. this move by turkey is the markering of its new border and not a gesture against israel. 2. regime change in syria was a deal made between israel, turkey, russia and us and it was directly against resistance movements, all this countries were in agreement of safeguarding jewish state security. 3. israel is actively lobbying in us for russia to keep its bases in syria.
hmmm. time will show, time will show…
the back alley deals go on . the mossad press is always ready to run cover stories .
the fog of war expands around the greater israel project . will turkey join al queda next ? the israeli led press will issue many false flag statements to change the subject in headline news . example = the signal app deal sure avoided discussion of the illegal us bombings in yemen .
turkey should know that it has many enemys. fighting the most supported country on the planet would not bode well for them. not even nato membership would prevent the supporters of isreal.
step by step to the liberation of palestine
turkeys are zionist stooges and nato vassals and this is just to annex the eastern parts of syria while their zionist masters take over the western regions.
knowing erdogan, they’ll probably be turkish air defense systems to defend “israel”. they’ll probably use them to shoot down hezbollah and houthi drones and rockets. turkey to the rescue…of “israel”.