... Russia’s gold exports to the Emirates in 2022 totaled 75.7 tons or $4.3 billion.
Another important factor shaping the Middle East’s approach to international relations is Turkey’s foreign policy. Particularly important, is Turkey’s position on Syria prior to the presidential elections in May 2023, and the new aspects it has now acquired following the victory of incumbent President Recep Tayyip Erdogan. Judging by the leadership’s recent steps, Turkey wants to maintain continuity with its ...
... become especially important for Turkey, given that it is on the eve of its presidential and parliamentary elections, which are to be held in June this year.
Interestingly, President of Turkey Recep Tayyip Erdogan is trying to solve the problem posed by Syrian Kurds by combining force with the possibility of normalizing relations with Syria. Back in December of last year, he proposed to hold a meeting between the presidents of Russia, Turkey, and Syria. According to Erdogan, this meeting should be after negotiations ...
... highly probable, that such actions will start in 2023. Moreover, if Turkey sets its goal to establish control over all the settlements that are defended by the Syrian Democratic Forces (SDF), the world will bear witness to fierce resistance from the Syrian Kurds, who will put up a fight to maintain their last stronghold.
Kirill Semenov:
Finishing the Job: Turkey Preparing For Military Operation in Syria
It should be noted, that the SDF continues to receive US diplomatic and military-technical support. ...
... operations in Syria against the Kurdish left-wing groups, Russia tried primarily to protect the interests of its ally in Damascus and to prevent new violations of Syria’s sovereignty by offering the Assad regime various forms of relations with the Syrian Kurds and their integration into the Syrian state structures. However, this process has never advanced.
After the Istanbul attack, it will probably be much more difficult for Moscow, as well as Washington, to keep Ankara from another invasion of northeastern ...
... Eastern crises and to which extent the interests of Moscow and Tehran overlap or contradict each other. Some of the key issues of the political situation in the region were assessed, such as the situation in Idlib, the prospects for a political process in Syria, Israel’s role in the region’s future, the path to Syria’s reconstruction and the impact of U.S. policies on the emerging new order in the Middle East. Both Russia and the Islamic Republic of Iran regard each other as necessary components ...
... [
2
]. The stand-alone evolution of US relations with the Kurds in Iraq (in contrast to the Kurds in general) is also evident through the different US foreign policy approaches developed towards Kurdish entities.
In contrast, the US relations with the Kurds of Syria and Turkey are both still to be found at an early stage. Limited interactions to have taken place are those through events such as the Syrian crisis (March 2011) or earlier the capture of Abdullah Ӧcalan in February 1999, which was facilitated ...
... was prepared by the Russian International Affairs Council as part of the RIAC’s project on «Conflicts in the Middle East: Tools and Strategies for Settlement». This paper is devoted to analyzing the situation in the oil and gas market in Iraq and Syria, as well as the energy policy of Russia in the Arab Mashreq region. The authors also analyze Iraq’s oil prospects in the post-war period under sanctions against Iran. Special attention is paid to the Kurdish factor and the role the Kurds play in the future of energy in the region, the possibility of subregional integration in the Arab Mashreq and the increasing influence of Russian energy companies in regards to gas projects located in the Eastern Mediterranean.
Russia’s Interests ...
... or geographical components within the territories of the Syrian Republic? In fact, the Kurdish population in Syria does not exceed six percent. The UN Special Envoy for Syria Staffan de Mistura revealed that Kurds represent only five percent of the Syrian population. Besides, Kurds live in geographical areas that are not interconnected and do not constitute a majority in their places of residence. It is the so-called “war against ISIS” that granted them dominance over the Arab areas of Manbij, Deir-Ez-Zor, and Al-Hasakah....
... continuation of the political dialogue. The Russia–Turkey context is important as well, as the two countries strive to move beyond cooperation in Syria, understanding how complicated it is to achieve agreements.
Should Turkey launch an operation against Syrian Kurds, it will allow Ankara to “save face” concerning its Idlib losses. It will also allow Moscow to act as an intermediary and lead the Kurds and Damascus to an agreement. Much, however, will depend on the capacity in which the United States will ...
... Washington and Ankara continue negotiations on a safe zone in northern Syria — talks that have made “important progress” in recent days, according to US Secretary of State Mike Pompeo.
Why it matters
Russia believes that both US support for the Kurds and Turkish support for Syrian opposition groups contribute to continued foreign interference in Syria and threaten the unity of the country. Moscow’s official position is that neither Washington nor Ankara have a legal basis for their military presence in Syria. Russia also ...
