Russians step in as Turkey defies Nato
Fills vacuum created by US troops’ exit
AKCAKALE: Russia said it was working to prevent a conflict between advancing Turkish and Syrian government forces yesterday, as Turkey’s president defied growing pressure and sanctions from Western allies for a cease-fire in northern Syria.
Russia has moved quickly to further entrench its leadership role in the region after US President Donald Trump ordered the pullout of American forces in northeastern Syria. The American move effectively abandoned the Kurdish fighters who were allied with the US and cleared the way for Turkey’s invasion aimed at crushing them.
America’s abrupt reversal pushed the Kurds to strike a deal with the Russiabacked government of Syrian President Bashar Assad, inviting its forces to return to regions of northern Syria it had abandoned at the height of the eight-year-old civil war.
Yesterday, Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov said that Russia is committed to ensuring security in the region as it works to mediate between the Syrian government and Turkey.
Russia already announced that it had deployed troops to the flashpoint town of Manbij to keep apart advancing Syrian government and Turkishled forces.
Moscow will also continue to encourage Syria’s Kurds and government to seek rapprochement following the US withdrawal, Mr Lavrov said
Mr Lavrov also blamed the United States and Western nations for undermining the Syrian state, saying this pushed “the Kurds toward separatism and confrontation with Arab tribes”.
During a visit to Iraq last week, Mr Lavrov met with the leaders of the Kurdish autonomous region and said that Moscow is sympathetic to their need for autonomy.
Now in its eighth day, Turkey’s offensive against Kurdish fighters has increasingly strained relations with its Nato allies.
Late on Tuesday, Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan vowed he would not accept a ceasefire in northern Syria, despite growing pressure from the US and Europe.
Speaking to a group of journalists late on Tuesday on his return from a trip to Azerbaijan, Mr Erdogan said Turkey would only consider a ceasefire once it had cleared the border region of Kurdish fighters that it considers a threat for links to an insurgency within its own territory.
“It is not possible for us to declare a ceasefire until it is cleared,” the pro-government Yeni Safak newspaper quoted Mr Erdogan as saying.
Mr Erdogan’s comments came as Washington, which has announced limited sanctions on Turkey, said US Vice President Mike Pence, Secretary of State Mike Pompeo and national security adviser Robert O’Brien are traveling to Ankara to try and negotiate a stop to the fighting in Syria’s northeast.
Mr Trump had announced on Monday new sanctions to try to pressure Turkey to accept a ceasefire. But in response, Mr Erdogan told journalists that he had rejected US offers to mediate.