Afrin: ‘If the Syrian government moves in, the US has to move out’
RT.com
20 Feb, 2018
The latest developments in Afrin, Syria indicate a change of alignments in the Middle East, experts told RT. Some say Damascus could fill the vacuum created by the crisis, discomfiting the US.
President Erdogan has announced that the Turkish army will encircle Syria’s Afrin in order to oust Kurdish forces. The announcement comes amid reports that Damascus also plans to send troops to the city to end the crisis.
Earlier this week, media reports emerged suggesting an agreement has been reached between the Kurdish administration and Damascus over the military operation in Afrin, under which Syrian pro-government forces would be allowed to enter the area.
However, Kurdish officials are denying that such an agreement exists. Ankara has threatened to confront Syrian forces if they come to the aid of the Kurds, and also dismissed reports of a Kurdish-Syrian deal.
‘Huge change-around in alliances’
Political analyst Chris Bambery told RT that we are seeing a change of alignment in the Middle East and “America is looking a bit more sidelined then it used to be in the past.”
“I think Washington will be watching this with some trepidation. Because what we are seeing here is a realignment of Turkey, Iran and Russia. And the Americans are already angry with Turkey and Erdogan for supplying loans to Iran…Also I think they are worried there could be a bigger shift here. Thus far America and the Kurds have been allied in the fight against so-called Islamic State. We’ve had the Russian intervening on the side of Assad and the Turks intervening against the Kurds. Now we are seeing another mix. It could well be that joining this Iranian-Russian-Turkish axis is Assad.”
The Rest…HERE
