Posted on 09/12/2018 7:28:34 AM PDT by Texas Fossil
Much of the world focused its attention on the Tehran summit last week between Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan, Russian President Vladimir Putin and Iranian President Hassan Rouhani, in the hope that the three “Astana partners” could prevent a bloodbath in Idlib, in northwestern Syria.
Turkish Foreign Minister Mevlut Cavusoglu issued promising statements before the Sept. 7 summit, expressing his belief that a crisis would be averted in the last opposition stronghold.
The summit not only failed to achieve this, but also highlighted Turkish and Russian differences over Syria.
This comes at a time when Ankara and Moscow are keen to highlight their burgeoning political, economic and military ties, as their relations with the United States and Europe continue to spiral downward.
The Tehran meeting underlined that the two countries are still far from having established the “strategic partnership” Cavusoglu announced during his visit to Moscow at the end of August to discuss Idlib.
Erdogan was seriously rattled after Putin abruptly rebuffed his proposal — put forward during a live broadcast from the Tehran summit — for a cease-fire by all the sides in Idlib, including jihadi groups such as Hayat Tahrir al-Sham.
This rejection left Erdogan looking like the weak link in Tehran, and also provided a reality check for Ankara regarding the limits of its cooperation with Russia in Syria.
(Excerpt) Read more at al-monitor.com ...
Moscow has also called on Turkey to hand over to Assad areas in northern Syria, most notably Afrin, that Turkey captured from the YPG. This elicited an angry response from Erdogan, who said Turkey alone would make that decision.
The Turkey that has been flapping his wings and craping all over everyone in sight is just beginning to realize the reality of his situation when dealing with his new Russian "friend".
This is an excellent article. I believe it is very accurate and it is well worth the time to read it.
So he Turks do not want to be Russian canon fodder when he claims ownership of the PLO to protest Israel for his own aggrandisement?
This guy is the dupe at the table and only one not to figure
So he Turks do not want to be Russian canon fodder when he claims ownership of the PLO to protest Israel for his own aggrandisement?
This guy is the dupe at the table and only one not to figure
Erdogan is a Turkey. Headshake.
Any alliance between Russia and Turkey shall be uneasy and strained, considering all their history from the fall of Constantinople onward.
The Turks, and especially Erdogan, have as an underlying objective, the reestablishment of the Ottoman Empire. Unfortunately, this runs headlong into the idea of Imperial Russia, a dream the Russians have never given up.
Even when the country was under Communist rule. The Russians might not be Communists any more, but they are still Russians.
Why does this writer put “ terrorist groups” in quote marks.
Their presence in Idlib is a fact. That they are terrorists is a fact.
HTS and Hurras al Deen = al Nusra = al Qaeda in Syria
Erdogan “ promised” to integrate these extremists into its pet FSA and pull them back into Turkey.
And has failed.
And then in Idlib there are the estimated 12,000+ foreign fighters including uighurs, and muslim extremists from the former Soviet Republics, now fighting as IS) iwith whom Russia refuses ( rightly) to negotiate a “ ceasefire”. To avoid them being targeted, Turkey will have to cooperate in exfiltrating these terrorists out of Syria ( Libya?) but who wants them?
One local analyst believes Putin has given Turkey more time but this increases the danger of the CW false flag that has always been successfully used by the terrorists to get NATO to attack Assad
As Russia sees it, some extremists just need killing. I wish we just let them clean up. These people are NEVER going to govern Syria or cooperate with any secular govt. We need to get real. All they are for our policy is spoilers who brutalize anyone they control.
These groups in Idlib were bolstered when the Syrians and Russian “ reconciliation center” allowed them to evacuate to get them out of other cities, where they refused to disarm and join national or local Syrian organized security. Ask the locals how life is now they are gone.
Trump’s fault!
Yes, Turkey employee’s ISIS, Al-Qaeda, Nusra, Al Sham, Uighurs and a dozen other jihadi terrorist groups in the FSA. They are always fighting among themselves and killing and terrorizing locals.
Some of the FSA in Efrin (Afrin) are selling their weapons and sneaking across the border into Turkey. They are not being paid except by rights of pillage and extortion. The money is gone so the ones with a few brains are leaving the sinking ship.
They are also taking some casualties to the Kurds. They killed 15 last week including the commander in Efrin. It runs between 5 and 15 a week being killed and the locals are so angry they are fighting back. At some point the jihadi’s will get crushed without Turk air support. That is not discussed now, but I suspect Russia has withdrawn the access to Efrin airspace. smile. SDF will kick their butts all the way to the border.
US is silent. The elimination of ISIS in N. Syria (except where Turkey has control) is almost total. Would not have happened without US support for SDF and the bravery of those forces.
I believe there is an unspoken understanding between Trump and Putin. Certainly between their military.
Iran is still a player, but have their hands full at home and are heavily deployed in Syria.
Pace quickens.
Turkey’s party is ending - Russia telling him “the party’s over, pal”
With Assad Russia and the Kurds finally entering the border areas, Erdogans longtime covert operation with Western intelligence to train, arm, and smuggle these unrepentant nonassimilable islamic extremists into Syria is running out of space and time
Can Trump be pressured by a false flag or wag the dog deal with the GOP into using US forces to stop this? Despite the high sounding anti- Russia/anti-Assad rhetoric being churned out by Bolton Haley and Pompeo, I just do not see the clock being rewound on this bloody obama proxy war policy
Trump cut off all funding to Obama’s jihadi’s (possibly except to Tal Raf, near Israel)
He had no part in Turkey’s invasion of Syria.
We are there to protect the SDF (never fought to overthrow Syria) until the peace negotiation can be finalized. We will put our finger on the scale to speed that.
The real battle will soon be in Iran. The overthrow is in early stages.
yeah...Putin is smart. He knows our (Israel’s) weapons are superior, so he’s effectively sandbagging the Turks and Iranians to keep the upper hand in the region. The funniest thing is that he encourages the freaks to believe their own lies about the Great Satan.
Yep. Iran can keep their bluster up and brag about their weapons. But reality will bight them quickly and badly.
Putin wants no part of a direct conflict with the US and US wants no part of a direct conflict with Russia either. No pay off for either of us.
Iran and Turkey are the 2 problem children. Neuter them and this can be solved.
[The Russians might not be Communists any more, but they are still Russians.]
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