... International Affairs Council as part of the project "Security System in the Middle East". This paper covers the issue of complex relations between Russia and Israel in the Middle East. The author analyzes in detail Russia’s role in the Israel-Syria-Iran triangle.
The degree of Iranian presence in Syria, the impact of the nuclear deal in the context of Israeli-Iranian regional confrontation, the role of the Palestinian-Israeli settlement in Russian-Israeli relations are also discussed in the ...
... implementing the Sochi agreements. Consequently, as of the writing of this article, this group has not yet declared its position. The debate between followers of the two major factions still continues in the HTS’s Shura Council. One faction is the pro-Turkey Syrian bloc that insists on withdrawing the HTS forces from the demilitarized zone and further integration into the moderate opposition, since they connect their future with Syria. The other group is comprised of hard-liners, the “intractables,” many ...
... representatives, to the negotiating table [
37
].
On 24 August 2016, Turkey sent ground troops to northern Syria. Acting in support of the pro-Turkish opposition groups, Ankara launched Operation Euphrates Shield in order to ensure the security of the border between Turkey and Syria, fighting against DAESH and pursuing the less explicitly mentioned objective of preventing the U.S.-backed SDF/ YPG from establishing an autonomous corridor in the north of Syria [
38
].
The operation was completed on 29 March 2017 with the establishment ...
... countries oppose each other. The main purposes of the attempt are as clear as they could be: to provide humanitarian assistance to co-religionist people of Syria and to send back the refugees which are hosted in Turkey at the moment.
Fluctuations in Turkey-Syria Relations
Vitaly Naumkin:
Syrian Surprises
Syria
shares
Turkey’s southern border, which is the country’s biggest one (911 km) Relations between Turkey and Republic of Syria date back to the foundation of Republic of Syria in 1963 after the ...
... distance itself resolutely from HTS. At the same time, Erdogan made sure that this concession to the other two “guarantor countries” could not possibly be interpreted as a step towards rapprochement with the Syrian government and departure from Turkey’s support for the Syrian opposition. Hence Erdogan’s deliberately harsh public statements and calls for “rescuing” the Idlib population from the Syrian Army’s offensive. This calls to mind Soviet writer Maxim Gorky’s “Whose side are you on, masters of culture?...
... military operation had begun, there would have been hundreds of thousands of refugees. At the same time, these agreements are a very sensitive issue for Damascus, because Turkey has in fact received another “splinter” of Syria.
Another territory Turkey and Syria has been arguing over for decades, is Hatay, near Idlib. Strictly speaking, it is “Hatay” only for Turks; Syrians call it “Alexandretta”. During the French protectorate, it was transferred to Turkey. The Syrians disagreed, considering the ...
... caught up are ordinary citizens and civilians. So, the fact that an agreement was possible in the first place is important for that reason. Secondly, it’s important because it shows that there’s still a possibility for a political transition in Syria, that it will require Russia and Turkey to work together. Thirdly, it was important because it gave some time to work out the very difficult issues that are playing in Idlib. An offensive can solve these problems by military means but at a huge cost. Now that we have more time, maybe ...
... Council.
On September 10, 2018, Hüseyin Diriöz, Turkish Ambassador to Moscow, and Bashar Basho, Counsellor of the Turkish Embassy in Russia, visited Russian International Affairs Council.
RIAC guests discussed the state of relations between Russia and Turkey, the current situation in Syria and the prospects of preventing further aggravation of the conflict in the Syrian province of Idlib, as well as the role of the two countries in promoting political settlement of the Syrian conflict. More general security issues in the Middle East ...
The opportunities for Turkey and Russia in Syria
Turkey and Russia have had intense negotiations about the fate of Idlib and the de-escalation zone. Turkish authorities visited Moscow numerous times as an assault on Idlib by the Syrian regime seems imminent. Both sides are interested in clearing Idlib ...
... dialogue. U.S. support for the Syrian Kurdish polity and long-term plans to retain its own limited military presence in northern Syria are already straining relations between Ankara and Washington. Reluctance to make a compromise on the issue of PYD-led Syrian Kurds may prompt Turkey to seriously consider
military and political cooperation
with Iran in Syria and Iraq.
Yuri Barmin:
The Syrian Congress in Sochi: Too Much Too Soon
However, it is related political issues that may strain relations between the two major powers ...
