24.10.2019, Moscow.
The adoption of the memorandum on Syria by Russian President Vladimir Putin and Turkish leader Recep Tayyip Erdoğan is a great success, Senior Research Assistant of the Center for Euro-Atlantic Security of the Moscow State University of Foreign Affairs Yulia Kudryashova said on October 23 in an interview to a Rossa Primavera News Agency correspondent.
The expert noted that the memorandum that Putin and Erdoğan adopted is a serious geopolitical defeat for the US.
“Trump was actively pressing Turkey. He pursued an absolutely militant line, including threats to initiate military operations to defend the Kurds. Turkey, however, not only withstood this blackmail, but it also made a stronger turn to Russia, and it agreed to a compromise with it despite the pressure from the USA,” Kudryashova noted,
The expert pointed out the convergence of the positions of the two countries on Syria, because for today “Russia has become for Turkey a more important partner in the Middle East that its NATO allies”.
All this, the expert believes, is Russia’s great diplomatic victory.
“For Russia, this agreement is a great diplomatic success. Our country has further enhanced its influence in Syria and its standing in the Middle East. Today, Russia is the key country to determine the prospects of the resolution of the Syrian conflict,” Kudryashova believes.
According to the expert, the softening of Turkish authorities’ position on Syria was a forced step.
“Syria’s territorial integrity is vital for Turkey. Although Erdoğan was strongly against keeping Bashar al-Assad in power, this is a less serious threat to Turkey’s interests than the fragmentation of the Syrian state with the separation of a Kurdish autonomy. If the Syrian Kurds manage to create an autonomy, this can become the first step towards the resumption of the civil war between the Turkish authorities and the Kurdish rebels,” Kudryashova concludes.
At the same time, she believes, the fragmentation of Syria is the main goal of the US policy in the region, which previously deprived Libya of its statehood and allowed the weakening the central authorities in Iraq.
On October 22, 2019, the leaders of Russia and Turkey adopted a joint memorandum on Syria. According to this document, Russia and Turkey have taken an obligation to fight terrorism in the region, to secure the territorial integrity of the Syrian state, and to counter any manifestation of separatism.
In addition, the Turkish and Russian armies will start joint patrol missions in northern Syria.
Source: Rossa Primavera News Agency
