... could have been prompted by changes in Iran’s relations with other countries, especially its evolving cooperation with China, Russia and Saudi Arabia. If any agreement has been reached (which is currently too early to judge), it would only boost Iran’s ... ... 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 ...
... not taken into account, we can expect an increase in their activity, which can complicate negotiations with Ankara.
Kirill Semenov:
Istanbul Terrorist Attack: What Awaits Turkey and its Neighbors?
However, a new Turkish ground operation against the Kurds could negate any negotiating efforts. It is worth recalling that back in December of last year, talks were held in Moscow between the defense ministers of Russia, Turkey, and Syria. This was the first meeting in 11 years between the heads of the defense departments of Damascus and Ankara.
As Al-Watan reports, the highlight of the talks was the agreement on the withdrawal of Turkish troops from northern Syria, citing ...
... northern Syria.
While conducting an air operation in Syria, Erdogan did not rule out normalizing relations with Damascus. However, Turkey's ground campaign, as well as continued air strikes against the Kurds, is likely to complicate communication with Syria and hinder any mutual trust forming. This will happen even if Ankara succeeds in obtaining formal permission from Russia and the Syrian government to conduct an operation against the Kurds. According to a statement by Turkish National Defense ...
... expressed disappointment at what he called "
the weak response of Russia and the United States
" to dozens of Turkish airstrikes. In his opinion, Russia’s special military operation in Ukraine increased Turkey’s value in the eyes of both Russia and the West. Many believe that the sluggish response of both states to Turkey’s escalating war against the Syrian Kurds is explained by their desire to pull Ankara over to one side.
According to Kobane
, unless Moscow and Washington show firmness, Turkey is likely to carry out repeated threats to launch an offensive in Syria, as it did in two separate incursions ...
... consent to the launch of the operation. How the parties will conduct their operations and whether they would succeed will be up to them.
Currently, the question remains open as to how much the United States is willing to concede to Turkey. However, as Turkey launches its operation, Russia has an opening to interact with Kurds. If the United States allows Turkey to go too far, Kurds will realize the former cannot ensure their safety.
For the Kurds, this setup is fraught with the risk of possible loss of all their achievements (and territories). Moscow could work through ...
Kremlin has nothing to lose but a good opportunity to have a significant long-term gain if the Turkish operation is successfully conducted
On August 4, Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan
declared in a speech
during an opening ceremony that Turkey will launch a military operation in Syria’s terrorist PKK/YPG-occupied eastern Euphrates region. After the official declaration of the upcoming operation, there occurred the question of “how will it affect the bilateral relations between Russia and Turkey?” There will be no negative repercussion of the operation on Russian-Turkish relations.
Timur Makhmutov, Ruslan Mamedov:
Russia and the Arab Mashreq: The Post-Conflict Period in Syria
The discussions to create a safe zone inside Syria's ...
... occasions and to act against Russia.
Differences over political issues like the fate of Assad’s regime or scope of rights for Kurds may be pushed from the agenda in the mid-term, allowing bilateral cooperation on Syria to be focused on economic matters like reconstruction, trade, energy projects. These are the areas that are important for Russian plans to rebuild Syria and that Turkey can be interested in as well. Still, Turkey would like to keep supporting opposition, because, otherwise it would have ...
... Kurdish partners.”
Evgeniia Drozhashchikh, Rethinking Russia expert and postgraduate student at Lomonosov Moscow State University, asked Michael Gunter, professor of political science at Tennessee Technological University in Cookeville and authority on Kurds in Turkey and Iraq, and Kerim Has, PhD in Political Science, expert on international affairs and Russia-Turkey relations with RIAC, about their views on Trump’s motives and willingness to use “the Kurdish card” in elevating relations with either one side or another.
Shall Donald Trump’s decision underpinned by Press Secretary’s performance ...
... each other. Iran has faced a resurgence of violence in its own Kurdistan in the past months, whereas southeastern Turkey is the theater of more than guerilla warfare between Turkish forces and the PKK[3].
The Geneva process could bring a momentum to Russia-Kurds relations. Now that Turkey has grabbed its sphere of influence in northern Syria, preventing the emergence of Rojava, and solving by the same token Damascus’ Kurdish problem, both Turkey and the Syrian regime might be less frustrated by the potential participation ...
... period,” making the fight against terrorism the main priority. Yıldırım’s speech marked a number of important changes in Turkey’s position, changes that have not gone unnoticed by the United States, for whom increased cooperation between Russia and Syria is
undesirable
. It is for this reason that the United States has demonstrated its support for Turkey, rather than the Kurds. Following the talks in Ankara, the US Vice President noted that the United States favoured a unified Syria and does not encourage the formation of an independent Kurdish state.
According to Mr. Biden
, cooperation with the Kurds was limited,...
