Erdogan has driven himself into a dead end
The persistence of Turkey, which got involved in battles on the side of terrorists in Syria, is explained by the desire of the country’s authorities to gain the strongest positions before the start of Russian-Turkish negotiations on Syria, which start today at the highest level.
Elena Suponina, advisor to the director of the Russian Institute for Strategic Studies (RISI), stated this to Nezavisimaya Gazeta, assessing the latest battles for the city for the strategic city of Serakib, located at the intersection of two important highways: M-5 “Aleppo - Damascus” and M-4 “ Aleppo - Latakia."
“There is no doubt that behind the militants is Turkey, which wants to strengthen its negotiating position on the eve of the meeting between Erdogan and Putin,” Suponina believes.
In her opinion, the Turkish president’s stubbornness in Syria is not entirely justified.
“Erdogan drove himself into a dead end by announcing a harsh ultimatum to the Syrian authorities, which expired on February 29. He threatened that if the Syrian army did not abandon all occupied territories, it would face a full-scale Turkish military operation. But in fact nothing was done. However, Turkey, like other parties to the conflict, has a clear understanding that the Idlib problem cannot be solved by military means. That’s why Erdogan comes to Moscow,” the expert notes.
She assumes that the Syrian army will not withdraw from its occupied positions, at least from the M-5 highway.
“We can assume that the subject of bargaining will be the M-4 highway, which has not yet been completely liberated, but is of strategic importance for both the Syrian troops and the Syrian economy,” Suponina concluded.
Let us recall that during the January-February offensive, the government army liberated a significant part of Idlib province, the last major jihadist enclave. In particular, the city of Serakib also came under the control of Damascus. This settlement was recaptured by terrorists for several days after Turkish intervention, but on March 3 it was re-liberated by the SAA.
The final map of the battles in the Serakib area for March 4.
Erdogan has driven himself into a dead-end situation.