What is Russia’s end game in Afrin?

Turkey launched its air and ground operation against Kurdish fighters in the Syrian enclave of Afrin on Saturday, with Moscow turning a blind eye on the military offensive.

Russian forces were withdrawn from the area just before the operation began and Turkish jets were allowed to use the Afrin airspace, controlled by the Syrian government and Russia.

The development comes at a time when relations between Turkey and Russia have been gradually getting closer in the context of the Syria conflict, whereas tensions have been rising between Ankara and Washington, which backs the Kurdish fighters in northern Syria.

Moscow has traditionally been a staunch supporter of the Kurdish Democratic Union Party (PYD) and its armed People’s Protection Units (YPG) that have come to control large swaths of northern Syria, including Afrin.

Tensions between the US and Turkey remain high, despite Trump saying last November that Washington would no longer supply weapons to the YPG.

Professor Akgun told Al Jazeera that Moscow wanted to get Assad included in a resolution to the Syrian conflict, at least in the transitional period after the war and allowing the Afrin operation might influence Turkey to change its stance on the issue.

“Letting Turkey carry out the Afrin operation is a way to convince Ankara to be perhaps more flexible in certain issues regarding Syria in the course of Astana talks, such as Assad’s situation in a transitional government in Syria,” he said.

Fuad Shahbazov, an independent expert on Russia and Middle East affairs, said that Turkish side seemed to have made certain promises to Russia over Assad in order to get the green light for the offensive.

“I don’t think that Turkey will radically change its strict position over Assad remaining not in power,” he told Al Jazeera.

“The Turkish side could have made promises such as refraining from sharp criticism of the Assad regime or unofficially launching a dialogue with the Syrian president.”

The original material was published by Aljazeera

Leave a Reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *