MIDDLE EAST AFFAIRS: As Turkey builds its power and influence, its opposition to – and agitation against – Israel is continuing unabated.
It has been a good few weeks for Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan. All current indications suggest that the Turkish leader is making notable advances in his effort to place Turkey at the center of regional strategic affairs. As Erdogan’s Turkey builds its power and influence, its opposition to and agitation against Israel is continuing unabated.
Observe: this week, Erdogan hosted Ahmed al-Sharaa, the current interim president of Syria, at the Dolmabahce Palace in Istanbul. This was Sharaa’s third visit to Turkey since he assumed power in Syria. The Syrian leader thanked Erdogan for what he called Ankara’s “critical support” in securing the lifting of international sanctions against his country.
The US and European decisions to lift sanctions against Syria open the way for Sharaa to acquire critical funds for reconstruction in Syria, and potentially to consolidate his own rule.
While US President Donald Trump acknowledged the role of Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman in securing this decision, Erdogan has been arguing consistently for the removal of economic restrictions against Syria in recent weeks, including, according to reports, in his conversations with the US President (with whom he enjoys “great relations,” in Trump’s own words.)
The new Syrian leader is clearly keen to maintain good relations with Riyadh and avoid the impression that he and his organization owe their position in its entirety to the Sunni Islamist axis of Turkey and the Emirate of Qatar. At the same time, it would be difficult to exaggerate the centrality of Turkey in recent events in Syria.
Crucially, it was the Turkish decision never to entirely abandon the Syrian Sunni Islamist insurgency that provided Sharaa with the territorial incubator in which he could maintain and grow the force that would eventually march to Damascus.
In this regard, it is worth remembering that just a year ago, the regional and global consensus was that the Syrian civil war was over and Assad had won it. Erdogan’s decision to stand outside this consensus has earned him the central role in determining the direction of Syria.
Turkey appears set to develop a military infrastructure in Syria in cooperation with the new regime. This is likely to be framed as part of the ongoing struggle against ISIS.
Such a framing is entirely disingenuous, given the former relations of de facto cooperation between Ankara and the Sunni jihadi organization, and the complex relations of ISIS with Sharaa and Hay’at Tahrir al-Sham (HTS). Nevertheless, with Sharaa’s new regime gaining in legitimacy, it may prove difficult to challenge these claims effectively.
Source: https://www.jpost.com/middle-east/article-855952
