Posted on 05/26/2019 6:05:54 AM PDT by Texas Fossil
Syria regime plans to open new front to regain momentum
Amman - Turkey has equipped an array of mainstream Syrian rebels it backs with fresh supplies of weaponry to help them try to repel a major Russian-backed assault, senior opposition officials and rebel sources said on Saturday.
Russia is backing the Syrian army’s large aerial and ground assault as it seeks to gain control of the last big stretch of rebel-held territory in the northwest of the country.
Syrian President Bashar Al Assad launched the assault last month, saying rebels had breached an existing ceasefire, triggering a civilian exodus by bombarding Idlib and adjacent areas. It has been the biggest escalation since last summer between Al Assad and his enemies in Idlib province and a belt of territory around it.
Ankara stepped up supplies in recent days after failing to persuade Russia in recent meetings of a joint working group that it should end its escalation to avert a major influx of refugees pouring into Turkey, two senior opposition figures said.
In doing so Turkey signalled its readiness to preserve its influence in northwestern Syria, where it has beefed up its troop presence in a dozen military bases that were set up under a de-escalation deal with Russia, a senior rebel commander said.
Turkish officials were not immediately available for comment.
Overnight, a Turkish military convoy arrived in a base in northern Hama near rebel-held Jabal Al Zawiya, where Russian and Syrian jets have been pounding for weeks, a rebel and a witness said.
The delivery of dozens of armoured vehicles, Grad rocket launchers, anti-tank guided missiles and so-called TOW missiles, helped roll back some regime gains and retake the strategically located town of Kfar Nabouda, one senior opposition figure said.
(Excerpt) Read more at gulfnews.com ...
It may begin a new interesting period in Syria.
I’m confused. The enemy on the right, the enemy on the left, enemy all over the place. Whose side are we on???
Yes, it is an issue.
Personally, I’m for those who want a Syria controlled by the citizens. At this point the closest that happening is in Northern Syria where we backed the Kurds and their allies to defeat ISIS.
Turkey is supporting the remaining ISIS in Syria, where they moved them from near Damascus.
I normally ping a list that I have maintained on Syria and the war there, but am on a backup computer and have not found my notepad entries for it yet.
“Whose side are we on???”
An observer in the region wrote something like this; The difference between the various rebel groups is in how they will execute non-members; beheading, gunfire or burning to death. There are no good guys as we know them; just different levels of bad guys.
US troops in Syria are not on a side in that conflict - they are on a blocking mission to prevent Iran from over-running Syria, the Golan, and establishing a road from Tehran to the Mediterranean.
The “rebels” Turkey is supporting in northwestern Syria are not “mainstream”. They are all types of Islamist militia members, including former ISIS and Al Queda types, that fled to northwest Syria as they escaped Assad and in other cases as they escaped the Kurds. Turkey used them to help remove the Kurds from the key northwestern town of Afrin. Now the gangs occupy Afrin for Erdogan.
Erdogan is a wannabe new Ottoman emperor. Any deals or agreements he has made or will make with Russia has nothing to do with pleasing Russian interests, as the Russians are finding out. Then again, the deals the Russians made with him have nothing to do with pleasing Erdogan’s interests; as Erdogan always understood. Each was always seeking their own self interest, and if it temporarily served the other’s interest, so be it.
But I think Assad and the Russians are willing to allow the Kurds to have some autonomy in northern Syria, which Erdogan is totally against. And any further nominal control of northern Syria by Assad could lead to Assad and the Kurds striking a deal. Erdogan is compelled by his own ambitions to try to prevent it.
If Russia is too displeased, they could weigh whether or not they want to continue their S-400 missile deal with Erdogan. Not too likely they would go that far though, as doing so would please the U.S. and throw Erdogan back into a U.S. arms deal with the U.S. restrictions on it.
What should Trump do? Nothing right now. Wait and see how this plays out first and only act to insure the protection of our own troops and allies in northern Syria, with the Kurds.
Kurds do not do that. Nor do their SDF allies (Christians and Arabs).
Agree. Thank you.
“Kurds do not do that. Nor do their SDF allies (Christians and Arabs).”
I did say rebels. I don’t class the Kurds with the rebels. I am not sure where they fit in the scheme of things. As an ethnic group they cross several boundaries; Turkish, Iranian, Iraq and Syria. I suspect that when the various countries in the region collapse that the Kurds will emerge as a dominant force and the one cohesive country. As for the Christians my impression is that they have almost been eliminated as contenders in the region.
Should be "Both,"
It's Møøslime killing Møøslime.
Syriac Christians are not a large force but have always been a component of the YPG and now the SDF. They are good people.
In Iraq, they are somewhat different. Syriac and Chaldean groups vary. Some have common ancestry, but they have some internal issues. I’ve been in discussions where that surfaced. It is not talked about openly very often.
Syria Ping!
you should support Assad - he’s no angel but he protects the Christians in Syria
I know he does and so does the Russian Orthodox Church and Putin. A strange world in which we live!!
“If Russia is too displeased, they could weigh whether or not they want to continue their S-400 missile deal with Erdogan.”
And if Erdogan is too displeased, he might break off the S-400 deal as well.
Maybe Russia is not a feasible offset for Turkey after all, to play against the USA and NATO.
This conflict of interest may prove insurmountable, and end up driving Turkey back to the West at some point. Turkish/Russian competition has been basically inherent since before the Crimean War.
Yes, the cat (Putin) is playing with the dumb mouse (Erdooo).
Long thought that was the case. Historically an illogical pairing as you suggested.
Putin always acts in his strategic interest. Personal and sometimes national interest.
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