Following a failed attempt to get Iran and Russia to stop supporting the Idlib offensive in Syria, Turkey’s Foreign Ministry says that they have contacted the foreign ministers of several countries and are in touch with “all actors” trying to forge another ceasefire in Idlib.
Foreign Minister Mevlut Cavusoglu said that Turkey continues to support targeted operations against al-Qaeda’s Nusra Front. They oppose offensives against the other factions, and accused Syria of plotting to kill everyone.
Details on how these efforts are going is unclear, and there is no sign a ceasefire deal is about to be announced. In recent days, however, the airstrikes against Idlib have slowed substantially, which is raising questions about what Syria’s plans are.
As the last rebel-held territory in the country, Syria’s plans for Idlib are to take it back over, reuniting the country. The Syrian government has not confirmed a ground offensive, let alone a timeline for one, however. The expectation was that an offensive was imminent, but talks continue to take place on multiple levels.
Turkey got sucked into the losing side of this war. Deeply. Their only hope now is to do what Italy did in 1943 — change sides to the winning side.
Fair comment would not blame Erdogan. He was lobbied heavily in personal phone calls from Obama, assuring him that Assad would be gone soon and the US would fix this to Turkey’s complete satisfaction. He messed up, but it was by believing Obama, not by being some evil-minded dictator and wannabe Sultan driving off to war on his own initiative.
Turkey has been handing out fake passports to Uyghurs in western China to do Jihad in Syria. In July 2015, when China asked Thailand to return a group of Uyghurs, there was anti-Chinese violence in Turkey. Erdogan has kept the border open for Islamists to enter Syria, he has been arming Turkmen in northern Syria, and his son bought the oil from ISIS caravans as revealed by a Turkish newspaper. Where the oil went we don’t know, but probably Israel. Getting oil from occupied territory for a cheaper price.
Turkey also shot down a Russian plane, a clear act of war meant to cause Russia to retaliate. Turkey illegally sent troops into Iraq – if things had gone better for the Turk-supported side they probably would still be there. Erdogan has been doing all this at great cost, which is part of the reason why the Turkish economy is so lousy now. It was a huge undertaking meant to define his presidency, the great Ottoman restorer. Turkey got sucked into nothing. There wouldn’t have been a war without Turkey.
And on top of all that he wants visa-free travel for Turks to the EU, which would mean flying every Kurd to Western Europe where they can throw away their passports and claim to be refugees from Syria. He gets rid of the Kurds while destabilizing Europe. Nice guy. The only thing he ever did right was to keep buying Iranian oil – not out of any sense of charity, but to stick it to Washington. If Erdogan was smarter than he is he would cut off the “rebels”, the Uyghurs and Turkmen and the rest, in Idlib, realizing that he should seek cooperation between Turkey and Syria, Iraq and Iran. But he won’t do that, because for him it’s Sunnis and Turkmen all the way.
Makes sense. The Turks had much o do with causing the current situation.