Turkey reinforces army in Syria before Putin meeting

Turkey is sending more troops, tanks and howitzers into Syria to boost its forces on the ground before Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan meets with Russian President Vladimir Putin, who is backing an operation that could send hundreds of thousands of refugees into Turkey.

The reinforcements come as Turkey’s top general, Yasar Guler, inspected troop positions in the border provinces of Hatay and Gaziantep on Friday, according to AHaber television. Turkey has been massing troops in Syria’s Idlib since Putin rejected Erdogan’s call for a ceasefire during a recent meeting in Iran.

The Turkish and Russian leaders have deepened their friendship over the past two years, but they remain at odds over the war in Syria, where Russia has backed President Bashar alAssad and Turkey supports some Sunni rebel groups that have sought to overthrow him. Putin and Erdogan are expected to meet in Sochi, Russia, on Monday.

In an op-ed in the Wall Street Journal last week, Erdogan suggested that Turkey, along with the fighters it has backed in Syria, could play a crucial role in eliminating the threat from alQaida-affiliated militants in Idlib, one of the last territories held by Islamists rebelling against Assad.

Backed by Moscow and Tehran, Assad is preparing a battle to seize control of Idlib, cementing victory after a seven-year civil war in which more than half a million people have been killed.

Turkey fears that if Assad recaptures the territory, a new wave of refugees will stream over its border. In pushing back against Russia and Tehran, Turkey has also been trying to ensure so-called moderate rebel groups remain viable and able to play a role at any future peace negotiations.

“Turkey is beefing up its forces in Idlib, who might be threatened deep inside Syria in case of a flare-up of violence,” said Nihat Ali Ozcan, an analyst at the Economic Policy in Ankara.