Turkey‘s foreign ministry called for dialogue and unity to resolve the clashes in southern Syria between members of the Druze minority and Bedouin tribes, where at least a hundred people have been killed, leading the Syrian government to intervene and Israel to bomb Syrian forces sent to the region under the pretext of defending the Druze, who also form a significant minority in areas of northern Israel such as the occupied Golan Heights.
“We hope that the Syrian Government will bring the incidents of violence to an end as soon as possible through dialogue at the local level, and will establish security in the south of Syria. In this process, priority should be given to Syria’s sovereignty and unity. Türkiye will continue to support efforts to strengthen stability and reconciliation in Syria, in cooperation with responsible stakeholders in the international community,” Turkish foreign ministry spokesman Öncü Keçeli said in a statement issued by the ministry.
These statements come amid fighting in Sweida (Suwayda) governorate between Druze militias and Bedouin tribes, which in recent days has claimed nearly 100 lives, including 60 Druze (four of them civilians), 18 Bedouin fighters, 14 members of the Syrian security forces and seven armed militias, according to the Syrian Observatory for Human Rights. The incidents erupted on Sunday following the abduction of a Druze vendor by Bedouin groups, sparking a wave of kidnappings and mutual reprisal attacks.
Syrian government forces began entering the provincial capital Sweida on Tuesday morning, where the Damascus government called on the population to stay indoors and denounce the armed “illegal groups”. The defence ministry announced a ceasefire immediately after the city was seized by the government, saying an agreement had been reached with Sweida’s “notables and dignitaries”, Al-Jazeera reported. “To all units operating within the city of Suwayda, we declare a complete ceasefire,” Syrian defence minister Murhaf Abu Qasra said.
In parallel, the Israeli army has been launching several air strikes against Syrian government forces heading towards Sweida, warning that it will not allow the Druze minority in Syria to be harmed, according to Israel’s defence minister Israel Katz. Tel Aviv sees the Druze as potential allies in the region against the new government that has emerged in Syria after the end of the Assad dictatorship.
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Pablo Gómez is a specialist in Turkey and has been editor-in-chief of Hispanatolia since 2011. He has been analysing current affairs and geopolitics in Turkey and the surrounding region since 2006.
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