Turkey Still Part of Anti-Syrian Coalition: Lebanese Analyst

Speaking to the Tasnim News Agency, Ghaleb Kandil pointed to a recent meeting between Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan and his Russian counterpart Vladimir Putin in St. Petersburg, saying that no “tangible” change has been seen in Ankara’s policies toward the Syrian crisis since the talks.

“Turkey still has a place at the forefront of the anti-Syria coalition,” the prominent analyst stated, rejecting the idea that Turkey and Russia, a staunch ally of Syrian President Bashar al-Assad, have reached some agreement about the Arab country.

He further emphasized that what happened in the St. Petersburg talks was mostly an attempt by Erdogan to turn the clock back to the time before Turkey’s downing of a Russian warplane last year on the Syrian border.

The Lebanese expert went on to say that Turkey is, in fact, seeking to preserve its economic partnership with Russia that had been in place over the five years of the Syrian crisis.

Putin and Erdogan exchanged views about various issues, including the Syrian conflict, at the meeting in St. Petersburg last Tuesday.

Following a failed coup in Turkey in July, Turkish officials, who had previously defended the downing of the Russian jet, distanced themselves from the incident, saying that the bomber aircraft had been targeted by military personnel who later took part in the putsch attempt against Ankara.

Observers say that the Turkish overtures to Russia are coming at a time when Ankara is finding itself increasingly at odds with Western countries in the wake of the coup.

Western countries, particularly those of the European Union (EU), say Turkey is being too heavy-handed in its crackdown on putschists.

Turkey has sacked thousands of military and government personnel in an attempt to cleanse the country from the plotters.