What Surprise has Erdogan Prepared for Kremlin?

• 12.01.2016, 13:20
•  Near East,  World

Mikhail Klimentyev / Reuters

Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan's statement on its real target in Syria is quite new for Moscow, said Russian President Vladimir Putin's press secretary Dmitry Peskov, expressing hope that Ankara will give explanations on this occasion.

"Of course, we hope that soon we will get an explanation of our Turkish colleagues in this regard. This is a very serious statement which is contrary to previous statements, as well as our view of the situation as a State whose military forces are in Syrian Arab Republic legally ․․․" Peskov said.

On November 29 Turkish President said that the Turkish military launched its operations in Syria to end the rule of Syrian President Bashar al-Assad. "In my estimation, nearly 1 million people have died in Syria. These deaths are still continuing without exception for children, women and men. Where is the United Nations? What is it doing? Is it in Iraq? No. We preached patience but could not endure in the end and had to enter Syria together with the Free Syrian Army [FSA]," Erdogan said, Hurriyet reports. "Why did we enter? We do not have an eye on Syrian soil. The issue is to provide lands to their real owners. That is to say we are there for the establishment of justice. We entered there to end the rule of the tyrant al-Assad who terrorizes with state terror. [We didn’t enter] for any other reason," Erdogan added. 

This was really new, as since August 24, when Turkey launched military operations in Syria, Ankara claimed that their aim is the fight against ISIS. Of course, the "Euphrates Shield" operation has had serious deviations from the declared aims, targeting the Kurds, but so far it was never spoken about the fight against the Assad regime.

Experts believe that there was some agreement between Russia and Turkey, according to which the Assad government forces supported by Russian troops should capture Aleppo and Turkey to get freedom of action in the north of Syria. But Erdogan's statement brought an unpleasant surprise to Moscow mixing all the cards.

It should be noted that Erdogan stated his purpose after drastic change in the situation in Aleppo, when the Syrian army with the support of the Russian armed forces captured several strategic districts of eastern Aleppo's, making the restoration of control on the city more real.

Analysts don't exclude that this was really just a statement  for the internal audience, as Ankara has repeatedly stressed that its main goal is to overthrow Assad, and in case of such developments in Aleppo simply to keep silent would be "incomprehensible". At the same time, it should be emphasized, that Turkey is not ready for a confrontation with Russia once again, which Erdogan's latest statement assumes.

So, shortly after the first steps taken to overcome the crisis in the Russian-Turkish relations, they are again under threat. It all depends on what actions will follow Erdogan's statement...