
© Ministry of Defence of the Russian FederationJoseph Dunford (L), Hulusi Akar (C), Valery Gerasimov (R)
The Russians wouldn't want the Turks to choose between Russia and the US; they'd want to bring the US on their side to have a bigger coalition so that instead of competing they could collaborate, said political analyst and Middle East expert Ammar Waqqaf.
Russia's Chief of the General Staff Valery Gerasimov has taken part in a surprise meeting with counterparts from Turkey and the US in the Turkish city of Antalya.
The focus of the discussion was on security issues in Syria and Iraq, the Russian Ministry of Defense (MoD) said in a statement.
On Monday, the
Pentagon confirmed a small number of US troops had been sent to the northern Syrian town of Manbij to deter fighting between the US-backed Kurdish forces and Turkish-backed rebels.
RT: How important is this top-level military meeting in your opinion?
Ammar Waqqaf: It is important. Yesterday, the
Prime Minister of Turkey Binali Yıldırım, said there wouldn't be or couldn't be a Turkish operation toward Manbij without coordination with Russia and the US. And there you go, within 24 hours we have this top-level meeting. There are
tactical issues surrounding Manbij, but there are also other
strategic issues. With regards to Manbij, the whole Euphrates Shield Operation, when it started, Turkey had requested that
all Kurdish militia withdraw or evacuate to the east of the Euphrates and this had some sort of sympathy from the US.
This didn't technically happen, although we've heard of some withdrawals here and there. But obviously the militia is still there, and now they've
linked up with the Syrian army. So the Turks probably are trying to push the point that this is what we've agreed upon: we need to evacuate to the east of the Euphrates, but then the
Syrian Army linking with the YPG are now destined to be handed over some villages to prevent the Turks from doing something. So, there is this tactical, complicated situation around Manbij first of all that needs to be solved. And I think this meeting in large part is going to focus on that.
Comment: Regarding surveillance in the USA, both Trump and Binney have brought out into the open what many have suspected. With this kind of verification to the public, will there be changes made to reinstate privacy? Or is the surveillance dictate only becoming public knowledge at this time because the system is complete enough to be irreversible.
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