ANKARA: Turkish troops are making sweeping territorial gains in northernSyria, fuelling speculation that Ankara and Moscow are secretly workingtogether to establish greater control over the war.
Sections of the Turkish media reported that the center of Tel Rifaat cityin northern Syria was encircled on Tuesday after up to 100 Russian policeofficers mysteriously pulled out of the area, allowing the soldiers andmembers of the Free Syrian Army (FSA) to enter.Although Ankara has yet to confirm this, Arab News sources said that TelRifaat’s collapse is imminent, with negotiations still continuing.
These latest developments have caused military analysts to suggest thatMoscow is deliberately ceding control of the area, betraying Kurdishfighters it once protected, in a bid to stop Turkey from edging closer tothe US.
They told Arab News it may be the clearest sign yet that the countries aresecretly working together in a double game, swapping territory and sellingout guerrilla factions that they had previously supported, in an attempt toimprove their strategic footholds in the country.
Magdalena Kirchner, of the Istanbul Policy Center, told Arab News thatwhile there was no definitive proof of a quid pro quo, the fact thatRussian forces left Tel Rifaat “just hours before the operation startedpoints to fairly close coordination and ongoing negotiations”.
Relations between Turkey and Russia have fluctuated wildly since Moscowintervened in the Syrian civil war in September 2015 to support the regimeof President Bashar Assad, which Ankara had vowed to help topple. InNovember that year, Turkey shot down a Russian fighter plane near itsborder with Syria, causing Russia to respond with sanctions.In June 2016 Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan apologized for downingthe plane and relations began to thaw.
Since early 2017 the two countries, together with Iran, have beencooperating in what they say is an attempt to bring about a political endto the conflict by establishing “de-escalation zones” throughout Syria. ButTel Rifaat’s targeting by Turkish forces this week may be a sign that bothsides are more interested in furthering their geopolitical interests thankeeping the peace, analysts told Arab News.
Kerim Has, a lecturer in Turkish-Russian relations at Moscow StateUniversity, said that there have been indications elsewhere in Syria thatan unofficial, mutually beneficial arrangement, has been reached betweenthe two countries.
This may have caused Turkey to smooth the UN-backed evacuation offundamentalist insurgents from Eastern Ghouta, near Damascus, to Idlib,southwest of Aleppo, he said. The evacuation, which remains ongoing, seemsalmost certain to allow the Syrian regime to claim a key victory in thewar, following a ferocious siege that has killed hundreds of civilians inrecent weeks.
Meanwhile, Moscow has quietly allowed Turkish forces to press ahead largelyunchallenged with a major military offensive in the north of the country.Operation Olive Branch began on Jan. 20 with the aim of seizing territoryfrom Kurdish separatists in the region.
The Syrian city of Afrin fell to Turkish forces on March 18, with the UNestimating that 50,000 children in the surrounding area now needhumanitarian aid. – Arab News