Indeed:
President Tayyip Erdogan said on Wednesday that Turkey's military would strike Russian-backed Syrian forces by air or ground anywhere in Syria if another Turkish soldier was hurt as the Assad government tried to regain control of Idlib province.
The Turks seem determined to stay in Syria despite what Assad wants, but I don't see the commitment yet:
Turkey had too little inside Syria last year to stop Assad. The reported numbers recently sent don't seem nearly enough to halt the Russian-backed Assad offensive there.
Isn't it a bit late for Turkey to enforce their old ultimatum?
Or does Erdogan think Iran is too weakened by America's effort to resist Turkey? And does Erdogan think Russia is too weak and too eager to complete the sale of S-400s and perhaps aircraft to Turkey (in the hope of scoring a diplomatic coup of splitting Turkey away from NATO) to oppose Turkey as long as Turkey leaves Russia's Syrian bases alone?
If Turkey is willing to intervene in a more distant Libya, perhaps their willingness to fight in Syria is higher, eh? Maybe there is no expiration date on the ultimatum.
Russia doesn't want to blow their halting relationship with Turkey but can hardly afford to abandon Assad:
The Kremlin said on Tuesday that all attacks on Russian and Syrian government forces in Syria's Idlib province should stop and that agreements it had struck with Turkey on the conflict had to be upheld.
Moscow made its comments, which underscore rising tensions over Syria between Russia and Turkey, after Syrian government forces took control of a highway in northwest Syria for the first time since 2012.
As I noted in a January data dump:
Erdogan is alienating NATO ally America in favor of promoting friendship with long-time enemy Russia. And outside of Erdogan's fantasy world, Russia backs Syria's attacks in northwest Syria over Turkish objections--which continues to make progress in Idlib province--while Russia and Turkey are on opposite sides in the Libyan civil war. Brilliant!
I wonder if Turkey will find it needs the good will of its NATO allies that Erdogan is peeing on by cozying up to Putin's Russia?
The Syria multi-war continues to impress me with its complexity.
UPDATE: AP discusses the M5 highway noted as a Syrian success in that story quote about Russia's role:
It is arguably one of the most coveted prizes in Syria’s civil war, and after eight years of fighting, Syrian President Bashar Assad has got it back.
The Damascus-Aleppo highway, or the M5, is known to Syrians simply as the “International Road.” Cutting through Syria's major cities, the motorway is key to who controls the country.
It was a major trade route north to and through Turkey and south to and through Jordan.
Not that the devastated Syria can exploit that trade role now, but at least it can be used as a regime line of supply.
UPDATE: It's sad that Erdogan's reset with Putin's Russia isn't working as the Sultan wants:
Turkey's Foreign Minister Mevlut Cavusoglu said on Sunday he told his Russian counterpart that attacks in Syria's northwestern Idlib region must stop immediately and that a lasting ceasefire had to be achieved there.
Maybe alienating NATO and America to make Russia their best buddy wasn't the best policy idea, eh?
I guess we'll see what happens by the end of the month when Turkey says Syria (and Russia) must comply.
