Türkiye on Tuesday accused Israel of an "occupying mentality" after its forces entered a UN-patrolled buffer zone on the Golan Heights after the ouster of Syrian strongman Bashar al-Assad.
"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 anti-regime groups swiftly advanced across Syria, in what Foreign Minister Gideon Saar has insisted was a "limited and temporary step" for "security reasons".
The 1974 agreement, brokered to maintain a cease-fire following the Yom Kippur War, was designed to create a buffer zone between Israeli and Syrian forces.
Türkiye's denunciation came amid heightened tensions in the region, with concerns that the move could undermine efforts for lasting peace and stability in war-torn Syria.
