Declaring that the U.N. Security Council demand an end to the seven-year-old Syrian War, 63-year-old Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan showed how he plays all sides against each other. Turkey backed the Saudi proxy war for seven years in Syria to topple the government of Syrian President Bashar al-Assad. Today Erdogan calls for an end to the government’s offensive in Eastern Ghouta, where Saudi-U.S.-Turkey-backed rebels remained holed up. Al-Assad, with Russian and Iranian help, have all but purged Syria of anti-regime rebels seeking regime change in Damascus. Despite his ongoing war against the Kurdish YPG militia in Afrin, near the Southern Turkish borders, Erdogan wants pro-government forces, backed by Russia and Iran, to stop battling anti-Assad rebels near Damascus. U.N. Security Council demanded a resolution to stop the bloodshed against Saudi-Turkey-backed rebels.
Neither Saudi Arabia nor Turkey has accepted that they’ve lost the seven-year-old proxy war against al-Assad’s regime. Whether admitted to or not, once Russia joined the fight Sept. 40, 2015 to preserve al-Assad’s regime, Saudi Arabia lost the battle to change regimes in Damascus. Saudi Arabia and Turkey had convinced former President Barack Obama to join the fight to oust al-Assad by supplying arms-and-cash to Syrian rebels. When President Donald Trump took office Jan. 20, 2017, he switched gears, focusing instead on backing the KurdishYPG militia to defeat the Islamic State of Iraq and Syria [ISIS]. No longer did the U.S. seek to topple al-Assad, only stay focused on ISIS Yet the European Union, largely under direction of German Chancellor Angela Merkel, backed the Saudi proxy war seeking to topple al-Assad, despite knowing the soaring death toll and refugee crisis threatening the EU.
Edrogan seeks cover for his war against the U.S.-backed YPG Kurds in Syria. “The Assad regime is carrying out a massacre in eastern Ghouta . . A vote will be help in the UNSC for the attack to end and aid to be delivered. The whole world jointly says ‘stop’ to the massacre,” wrote Erdogan’s spokesman Ibrahim Kalin on twitter. Erdogan can’t accept the fact that the seven-year-old Saudi proxy war failed, continuing to back rebels in eastern Ghouta committing to getting rid of al-Assad. Like rebels forced out of East Aleppo Dec. 13, 2016, the Syrian government let them leave without a massacre. Complaining about the Syrian government’s attacks on eastern Ghouta fails to recognize Saudi-Turkey-backed rebels have lost the war. Holding on to territory seized during the Arab Spring, the pro-Saudi rebels have brought on their own misery, holding on to Syrian sovereign territory.
Instead of whining about anti-al-Assad rebels facing certain massacre, Saudi Arabia and Turkey should accept defeat without further incident. Erdogan calls on al-Assad to accept Saudi-backed Syrian rebels yet Damascus has made clear they’ll no longer accept any anti-Assad rebels squatting on Syrian territory. Once anti-Assad rebels left Homs March 1, 2017, their safe havens were shrinking all over Syria. Complaining now about al-Assad’s massacre in east Ghouta, Syrian rebels have no one to blame but themselves. Listening to Erodgan lecture the Security Council to stop the bloodshed, when he’s busy wiping out the Kurds in Afrin, shows how the Saudi-baked proxy war continues to rage on. If the U.N. really wanted the bloodshed to end, it would pull the plug on support of anti-al-Assad rebels. Instead of listening to Erdogan and the Security Council should urgently review its policy.
If the U.N. wants the bloodshed to stop in Syria, they should order Syrian rebels out of Damascus suburbs. No one in the EU or U.N. should let Saudi-backed rebels continues its war against al-Assad. Russian and Iranian forces have done everything possible to build up al-Assad’s regime, leaving very few places where it’s safe to be a rebel. With pro-regime air strikes killing some 120 children today, the U.N. Security Council feels compelled to act, despite backing the rebels war on al-Assad. If there’s any chances to of lasting ceasefire and end to the bloodshed, it’s going to take a confrontation in the Security Council. U.S. officials know that battling al-Assad has backfire, resorting in different conclusions. No one believes that arming more Syria rebels leads to an end to the seven years of bloodshed.
No matter how detestable al-Assad, he’s preferred over the anarchy-and-chaos that would ensue from toppling his regime. Watching what happened in Tunisia, Iraq, Egypt and Libya, attacking al-Assad’ regime only leads to more death, destruction and terrorism. U.S., Saudi and EU officials need to admit that regime change in Damacus isn’t a viable option. To end the Syrian War, the U.S. and EU must get on the same page when it comes to al-Assad. With Russian and Iranian help, there’s no way the Saudi proxy war can do anything other than cause more mass destruction. Trump’s on the right track telling the Pentagon to back off the Saudi proxy war. U.S. officials can’t afford to confront Russia in Syria when a confrontation looms in North Korea over its nukes and ballistic missile program. U.S. officials need to tell Erdogan to back off battling the YPC militia, if Turkey ever wants to join the EU.
