I said the situation could give rise to a new Russian-led axis in the region which would test Turkey’s allegiances, and warned of proxy conflicts emerging in Cyprus between Turkish and Greek Cypriots.
There occurred some unexpected developments such as the temporary closure of the airspace by Russia in the early days of the operation but with no damage to the overall flow.
When it comes to Syria, Pompeo appears to see it as an arena to confront Iran’s influence, yet similarly shows his concerns regarding the Russian support for the Assad regime either.
One was that the Syrian regime did not want to oppose a strong actor like Israel when it was already dealing with rebels and facing an erosion of its power and influence to such a great extent that it warranted an intervention by Russia.
Despite a UN Security Council cease-fire resolution, on March 3 the regime and its allies began a major ground operation -- backed by Russian air power -- aimed at decisively capturing Eastern Ghouta, an opposition-held suburb of Damascus.
Similarly, al-Raya and al-Arab dailies reported that Russia and the US’ reckless policies have forced Turkey to launch the operation and secure its own national security.
EU-Turkey relations, regional and international issues, including global foreign policy, security, fight against terrorism, the Middle East, Africa and Russia are expected to be discussed during the summit, the senior EU official, who spoke on condition of anonymity due to restrictions on talking to the media, said.
With this agreement, Turkey made it clear that it does not intend to remain dependent on a single country in the field of defense, and that Ankara aims to diversify its security and foreign policies by procuring similar weapon systems from its European allies in addition to the S-400 air defense systems purchased from Russia.
Eventually Daesh was defeated and lost its strongholds on many fronts against Russia and Iran-backed regime forces, Turkey-backed Free Syrian Army and the U.
Following Turkey’s downing of a Russian jet, the PKK captured the Tel Rifat-Menagh axis east of Afrin from the FSA with Russian air support and consolidated its power in these regions.
After the downing of the Russian aircraft, the terrorist organization captured territories between Tell Rifat and Menagh to the east of Afrin from the Free Syrian Army (FSA) with the support of Russian aircrafts.