And that brings us to Ankara's nightmares. Russian Air Force smashed most of Ankara's Turkmen proxies -- heavily infiltrated by Turkish fascists -- in northwest Syria. That was the key reason for Sultan Erdogan's desperate move of shooting down the Su-24.
It's by now clear that the winners, as it stands, on the ground, are the "4+1," and the losers are Saudi Arabia and Turkey. So no wonder the Saudis want at least some of their proxies at the negotiating table in Geneva, while Turkey tries to change the subject by barring the Syrian Kurds: these are accused of being terrorists, much more than ISIS/ISIL/Daesh.
No terrorists at table? Turkey "threatens to withdraw" from Syria talks over Syrian Kurds http://on.rt.com/72kw
As if this was not messy enough, US "Think Tankland" is now spinning there is an "understanding" between Washington and Ankara for what will be, for all practical purposes, a Turkish invasion of northern Syria, under the pretext of Ankara smashing ISIS/ISIL/Daesh in northern Aleppo.
This is utter nonsense. Ankara's game is three-pronged; prop up their heavily battered Turkmen proxies; keep very much alive the corridor to Aleppo -- a corridor that crucially includes the Jihadi Highway between Turkey and Syria; and most of all prevent by all means necessary that YPG Kurds bridge the gap from Afrin to Kobani and unite all three Syrian Kurd cantons near the Turkish border.
None of this has anything to do with fighting ISISL/ISIL/Daesh. And the nuttiest part is that Washington is actually assisting the Syrian Kurds with air support. Either the Pentagon supports the Syrian Kurds or Erdogan's invasion of northern Syria; schizophrenia does not apply here.
A desperate Erdogan may be foolish enough to confront the Russian Air Force during his purported "invasion." Putin is on the record saying response to any provocation will be immediate, and lethal. To top it off, the Russians and Americans are actually coordinating airspace action in northern Syria.
This is bound to be the next big thing, fully eclipsing the Geneva pantomime. The YPG and its allies are planning a major attack to finally seize the 100-kilometer stretch of the Syria-Turkey border still controlled by ISIS/ISIL/Daesh -- thus reuniting their three cantons.
Erdogan was blunt; if the YPG pushes west of the Euphrates, it's war. Well, looks like war then. The YPG is getting ready to attack the crucial towns of Jarabulus and Manbij. Russia most certainly will aid the YPG to reconquer Jarabulus. And that will directly pit -- once again -- Turkey against Russia on the ground.
Geneva? That's for tourists; the capital of the Syrian horror show is now Jarabulus.
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