Rumors about the “death” of Russian-Turkish alliance in Syria greatly exaggerated

Source:Modern Diplomacy Date:06Apr2019

A well-balanced and thoughtfull article on Tukey’s options in Syria.  Neither Russia nor US is willing to grant  Ankara it main priorities of safe return of Syrian refugees and eradication PKK-inspired Syrian Kurdish secessionist threat.   Which is the least bad offer?

The ideology of Pan-Turkism, which was so popular during the 1990s, has since been put on the back burner as the Turkish political establishment is pursuing a three-pronged foreign policy combining the Islamic, Atlantic and Eurasian tracks. Turkey’s geopolitical position at the junction of different civilizations inevitably determines the country’s final choice as being existential, rather than political.

As for the Islamic vector, it leads nowhere, since neither Iran nor the Arab countries will ever recognize Turkey’s leadership, and Ankara will not agree to anything less.

A move towards embracing “Western democracies” would negate all previous activities of the Turkish leadership and the entire ideology of the Justice and Development Party, which has been governing the country for almost 17 years now. Moreover, Europe has already made it clear that the EU’s doors are closed for Turkey, and President Trump’s National Security Adviser John Bolton recently failed to give a direct answer when asked whether Turkey is a friend or enemy of the United States.