Posted on 01/01/2023 8:29:04 PM PST by FarCenter
...
It is against such a backdrop that the two meetings in Moscow on December 28 between the defense ministers and intelligence chiefs of Turkey and Syria in the presence of their Russian counterparts took place.
Erdogan’s reconciliation process with Assad is quintessentially his sweet revenge for the American betrayal. Erdogan sought help from Russia, the archetypal enemy country in the US and North Atlantic Treaty Organization’s sights, in order to communicate with Assad, who is a pariah in American eyes. The matrix is self-evident.
On December 29, Turkish Defense Minister Hulusi Akar said: “At the meeting [in Moscow], we discussed what we could do to improve the situation in Syria and the region as soon as possible while ensuring peace, tranquility and stability.… We reiterated our respect for the territorial integrity and sovereignty rights of all our neighbors, especially Syria and Iraq, and that our sole aim is the fight against terrorism, we have no other purpose.”
Russian President Vladimir Putin has been counseling Erdogan in recent years that Turkey’s security concerns are best tackled in coordination with Damascus and that the Adana Agreement could provide a framework of cooperation.
The Turkish Defense Ministry readout said the meeting in Moscow took place in a “constructive atmosphere” and it was agreed to continue the format of trilateral meetings “to ensure and maintain stability in Syria and the region as a whole.”
Without doubt, the normalization between Ankara and Damascus will impact regional security and, in particular, the Syrian war, given the clout Turkey wields with the residual Syrian opposition.
A Turkish ground operation in northern Syria might not be necessary if Ankara and Damascus were to revive the Adana Agreement. In fact, Akar disclosed that Ankara, Moscow and Damascus are working on carrying out joint missions on the ground in Syria.
Russian Defense Minister Sergey Shoigu’s willingness right in the middle of the Ukraine war to take the steering wheel and navigate Turkey’s reconciliation with Syria adds an altogether new dimension to the deepening strategic ties between Moscow and Ankara.
For Erdogan, too, Syria becomes the newest addition to his policy initiatives lately to improve Turkey’s relations with the regional states. Normalization with Syria will go down well with Turkish public opinion, and that has implications for Erdogan’s bid for a renewed mandate in upcoming elections.
From the Syrian perspective, the normalization with Turkey is going to be far more consequential than the restoration of ties with various regional states (starting with the United Arab Emirates) in recent years that had fueled the conflict.
Turkey’s equations with Syrian militant groups (for example the Syrian National Army and Hayat Tahrir al-Sham), its continued occupation of Syrian territory, Syrian refugees in Turkey (numbering 3.6 million), etc are vital issues affecting Syria’s security.
“Asia Times” ?
that’s the Chinese-Commie POS rag that always puts down America, right?
Another one of Barky “the magic n” eff ups Trump had to deal with.
The “hope and change” hologram named Obama fronted yet another color-revolution / regime change operation for the US neocons.
It was a disaster, as usual. They destroyed Syria, flooded Europe with migrants from Africa and Asia, and created the biggest refugee crisis in Europe since WWII.
Putin put a stick in their spokes, now he and Turkey are embarrassing the DC neocons, again.
“Erdogan sought help from Russia, the archetypal enemy country in the US and North Atlantic Treaty Organization’s sights”
Pretty funny to claim that NATO is isolating Russia when NATO cannot even prevent the Turkish Defense Minister from meeting with the Russians, and EXCLUDING the United States.
Makes one start to wonder just which country is ‘isolated’.
Not surprising from an Orthodox Christian perspective.
Syrian/Lebanese (Antiochian Orthodox) have long had a strong affinity with Moscow.
Neither Moscow nor Turkey have much for the Ecumenical Patriarch (EP) in Constantinople aka Istanbul.
The Antiochians were among the many Orthodox who boycotted the EP’s 2016 meeting in Crete which had been hoped to be a true Council.
In this case, it is putting down Obama’s foreign policy in the Syria. A failed regime change in a unnecessary war is a hard sell.
they are far more accurate than our msm
Turkey, Russia, Iran.....all leading to Ezekiel 38
Now we DO know, as we always suspected, Hillary’s “Russia, Russia, Russia” was just another of Hillary’s lies.
Putin is changing the world.
I ‘m guessing you’re annoyed that this may contribute to AVOIDING WIDER WAR IN SYRIA.
Chagrin? Turkey/Russia/Syria. Chagrin? I can think of hundreds of pejoratives but chagrin isn’t one of them.
That is rich coming from a Zeeper that buys every propaganda lie from UK rags like ‘The Guardian’ and others.
Canadians love to play armchair generals in Americas wars. It is a penis-envy type pathology.
Putin can’t even defeat a country 1/20th of Russia size
Putin looks like an impotent pansy
Why do we have troops in Syria?
Disclaimer: Opinions posted on Free Republic are those of the individual posters and do not necessarily represent the opinion of Free Republic or its management. All materials posted herein are protected by copyright law and the exemption for fair use of copyrighted works.