© Presidential Press Office / Handout via REUTERSTurkish President Tayyip Erdogan
On March 2
nd, Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan
said that Turkey's hope was a lasting ceasefire in Idlib, Syria and that Ankara is working towards that goal.
"My only wish is to end this struggle with victory and prevent further bloodshed, with a permanent cease-fire. For this, we are using all our diplomatic channels, along with our struggle in the field," Recep Tayyip Erdogan told a gathering of ruling Justice and Development (AK) Party officials.
His remarks came ahead of his meeting Thursday with Russian President Vladimir Putin on the situation in Idlib, northwestern Syria. The meeting is expected to take place on March 5
th in Ankara.
Turkey has pressed Russia to do more to rein in Assad's attacks in the region.
"For every one of our martyrs, we destroy dozens of regime elements, and make them pay a heavy price by destroying their jets and ammunition," said Erdogan, speaking of Turkey's retaliation for regime attacks.
"We rendered Nayrab [military] airport useless with our attacks on Sunday [March 1st]."
Following the launch of operation
Spring Shield in response to Turkish soldiers being killed in Idlib, and capturing a few villages from the Syrian Arab Army, by assisting the armed militants in the province, now Turkey says it wants a ceasefire.
This is another shift of the initially declared goal, which was supposed to be all Syrian Arab Army forces, as well as their Russian support to retreat back beyond the Turkish observation posts set out in the Sochi Agreements back in October 2018. This meant that the Syrian government should give up on thousands of square kilometers of liberated area.
© SouthFront
Now, Turkey seems to only wish a ceasefire and the liberated areas to remain [in Syrian hands].
Erdogan referred to Russia and Iran in his speech, and said that Turkey had no issue with both of them in Syria.
"I appeal to Russia and Iran. We have no problems with you in Syria, we are not aimed at either the Russian Federation nor Iran. We do not need oil and the lands of Syria. We fight for our national security. It's us, not the Russian Federation, not Iran and other countries that accept 3.7 million refugees," Erdogan said.
He furthermore warned that any attacks on observation posts would be responded to.
On March 3
rd, there will be a session in Turkish parliament, discussing the situation in Idlib.
The Turkish ministers will have to explain that the 2nd strongest NATO army - the Turkish one appears to be incapable of defeating the Syrian Arab Army's forces, who have been involved in a nearly 10-year-long conflict.Or rather, they need to explain that Turkey could win, but need to justify the massive losses that it would suffer in achieving victory, by carrying out an invasion through Idlib, and possibly beyond.And, judging by Erdogan's words of wishing for a ceasefire, Turkey is not prepared to pay the price of a potential victory.
Comment: Erdogan is looking more and more unhinged each day. At the same time he is floating ceasefire offers, he is making
threats:
"We are just beginning to show our true strength to those who see our sensitivity as [the unwillingness] to shed blood, to hurt or [make someone] suffer, or as weakness and timidity," the Turkish president told members of his AK Party on Monday. "The human and equipment losses of the [Syrian] regime are just the beginning," Erdogan said.
Backing up his threat, Erdogan cited heavy losses ostensibly inflicted on the advancing Syrian government troops. He said Damascus has lost 2,557 soldiers and militia members, 135 tanks as well as dozens of cannons, multiple launch rocket systems, and pickup-mounted anti-aircraft guns.
While threatening Damascus with further attacks, Erdogan made an appeal to Moscow and Tehran, which have been supporting President Bashar Assad in his fight against terrorism.
Still the Turkish president has retained a bit of a grip on reality, with a switch to making nice with the Kremlin, despite his
previous statements in which he
ordered Russia (!) to stay out of Turkey's way in Syria. The proffered
olive branch:
Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan has high hopes for his upcoming meeting with Vladimir Putin, saying he's optimistic an agreement will be reached with the Russian leader on ending hostilities in Idlib, Syria.
"We will evaluate the developments [in Idlib]. I hope that we [can lay the groundwork for] a ceasefire or take other steps and that we will get the job done quickly," Erdogan said in a recent speech in Ankara.
Earlier in the day, it was confirmed that Erdogan's much-anticipated visit to Moscow will take place on March 5. The Kremlin has expressed similar expectations for the meeting, saying the Putin-Erdogan summit will help defuse tensions in the troubled province of Idlib.
In the meantime, Erdogan has played the migrant card once again, opening its northern borders to Europe:
This Monday, Erdogan confirmed that Ankara will not close its borders, so the migrants can continue on into Europe. There will not be a single step back on this, Erdogan promised: "It's done, the doors are open now. You're going to have your share of this load right now."
Fierce clashes, tear gas at border as Greece vows to 'turn back' flow of migrants from TurkeyRussia has stayed the course in trying to bring
some order to the area:
Russian military police have been deployed to Saraqeb in Syria's Idlib province, the Defense Ministry has confirmed. Until recently, the strategic town has seen heavy fighting between Syrian forces and Turkish-backed militants.
The police presence is especially important because of the key role that Saraqeb plays in assuring the safety of vehicles and the civilian population travelling along the M4 and M5 highways.
There was heavy fighting between Syrian government forces and the militants, who were backed by Turkish artillery, over the town in recent weeks. In late February, the jihadists even announced that they were able to get hold of Saraqeb, but the Russian military sources denied those claims, saying that all of the attacks were repelled.
The Syrian forces established full control over Saraqeb on February 5. That triggered quite a response from Ankara, which demanded Damascus draw back its forces to the positions they occupied in late 2019. It also tried persuading Moscow to pressure its Syrian allies to retreat.
Why is Erdogan so focused on Idlib? One factor resurfacing is that if Turkey loses Idlib, jurisdiction over the neighboring province of Hatay, once under Syrian governance but handed to Turkey by France in 1939, may come back into the picture:
Russia lets its allies swing in the wind in order to show them "who's boss" and make them further dependent on Russia for weapons.
That's what Russia is doing to Syria.
R ussia is letting nutcase Erdogan have his way in Syria.
No wonder the former Warsaw Pact nations all joined NATO to escape Russia's clutches.
That's not NATO's fault. It's Russia's.
Who in their right mind would want to be allied with a country that is so fickle?
Russia is still imperialist and pathetic.