Rusia

Just last week Erdogan boasted about potential new defense deals with Russia, including aircraft purchases.

Turkey has requested to purchase 40 US-made F-16 fighter jets and dozens of modernization kits for aircraft it already owns, according to reports in both the Greek and the Turkish press.

News of the request, which has not been publicly confirmed by the US State Department, comes just days after Turkey’s President Recep Tayyip Erdogan said his government was planning to expand defense ties with Russia.

During an interview with Al-Monitor, Syrian National Coalition President Salem al-Meslet discussed recent US sanctions on Ahrar al-Sharqiya, the human rights situation in northern Syria and the US military presence in the war-torn country.

The head of the exiled Syrian opposition acknowledges human rights violations committed by Turkish-backed fighters in northern Syria but says recent US sanctions have helped rein in the lawless proxy groups.

Moscow is intensifying its airstrikes on Islamic State targets in the Syrian desert.

ALEPPO — Islamic State attacks in the Syrian desert have escalated over the past two weeks, causing heavy losses among the Syrian government forces and their allied militias.

Russia has intensified airstrikes on IS positions in support of regime forces as they attack IS positions and hideouts in the rugged desert areas.

If Russia has recently regarded Turkey warily as a result of Turkey’s successful backing of Azerbaijan in its recent war with Armenia over Nagorno Karabakh, being on opposite sides in Syria and Libya, Turkey’s supply of arms to Ukraine, and Turkey’s refusal to recognize Russia’s annexation of Crimea, in the run up to the Putin-Erdogan summit in Sochi on September 29, 2021 and in its aftermath, the music changed. Professor Alexander Dugin, a Putin advisor and a leading light of the Eurasian school attached historical significance to the meeting: “At this summit, the heads of the two states drew their red lines and a roadmap for the new world. From now on, Turkey and Russia have embarked on a new path, and this will affect both regional dynamics and the whole world. “[1] The pro-Kremlin television commentator and presenter Dmitry Kiselyov pronounced that Erdogan and Putin had achieved unity on almost all issues.[2] During the summit Putin emphasized the quest for compromises, but Russian commentators believe that Erdogan generally acceded to Putin, and drew encouragement from a Turkish military withdrawal from Idlib in Syria. In seeking to explain the more accommodating policy of Erdogan, Russian commentators concentrated on Turkey’s economic and political vulnerability. The latter was the result of a chill between Erdogan and the Biden administration that deprived Erdogan of the option to play both sides.

Fostul ministru de Externe Adrian Severin a publicat în DCnews câteva observații despre summitul de la Geneva unde se vor întâlni președintele Rusiei și președintele SUA.