Turkey Will “Definitely” Join Ground Operation In Syria, Accuses Russia Of “War Crimes”

We have expressed our surprise at the forbearance of Russia’s leaders in the face of repeated provocative actions from the USA and Turkey. It seems however, Putin’s patience with the infantile Obama and the deranged Erdogan may not last much longer.Here are the latest headlines out of Russia where the defense ministry is at wit’s end with the Turks.

RUSSIAN DEFENCE MINISTRY SAYS ‘TERRORISTS’ IN SYRIA’S IDLIB AND ALEPPO PROVINCES CONTINUE TO RECEIVE WEAPONS AND REINFORCEMENTS FROM TURKISH TERRITORY

TURKEY IS LAUNCHING ‘MASSED’ ARTILLERY STRIKES ON SYRIAN GOVT FORCES AND ‘SYRIA’S PATRIOTIC OPPOSITION’ – RIA CITES RUSSIAN DEFENCE MINISTRY

Turkey shelled Syria for a fourth consecutive day on Tuesday as Ankara steps up its support for anti – Assad rebels in the face of attacks by the Kurdish YPG. “As many as 150 terrorists were killed during the 4-day-long shelling targeting PYD points,” the pro-government Yeni Safak wrote today, adding that “the PYD, backed by both the US and Russia, is working with President Bashar al-Assad to control areas along the Turkish border.”

The move by Russia and Iran to encircle Aleppo and cut rebel supply lines to Turkey has allowed the YPG to advance on towns near the border, effectively consolidating the group’s grip on northern Syria, where they’ve been highly successful at holding large swaths of territory.That constiutes a major setback for Ankara where President Recep Tayyip Erdogan is desperate to kill popular support for the pro-Kurdish HDP which, at least in the Turkish government’s view is merely the political arm of the PKK.

Erdogan doesn’t distinguish between the PKK (which both Turkey and the US officially designate as a terror group) and the YPG. The US, on the other hand, openly supports the Syrian Kurds and has backed their advances with airstrikes (they can hardly do otherwise having been the prime mover in the creation of an autonomous Kurdistan in Iraqi territory. Ankara fears that if the YPG are allowed to bridge the territory they control east of the Euphrates with territory they control west of the river, they will effectively establish a proto-state on the border which would embolden the PKK to try something similar in southeast Turkey where Turkish Kurds are already pushing for autonomy.

 There are good reasons to suspect that Turkey will not only persist in the shelling of Azaz from gun emplacements within its own territory, but will in fact invade Syria.

On Tuesday we got still more indications that a major escalation in Syria is imminent when Turkey said it would “definitely” participate in a ground operation. “It’s impossible to end the war without it,” an official told Bloomberg, speaking on the condition of anonymity. You see how that works? It’s the same logic that France employed when officials declared that the best way to halt the refugee crisis is to bomb Syria. It’s “impossible” to the end the war in Syria without … going to war in Syria. And of course we told you last monthe The White House was not only aware of this plan but was complicit in it.

The official also said there was no plan for a “unilateral” ground operation by Turkey or Saudi Arabia, but according to Yeni Safak newspaper’s Ankara correspondent, Turkey is planning to send troops 10km into Syria to establish “a safe zone.”

Meanwhile, Moscow and Ankara continue to accuse one another of being terrorists. What should be clear from the above is that there’s no telling who the Islamist rebels fighting to keep the Azaz corridor open are. It’s the same mishmash of Sunni militants fighting everywhere else in western Syria and though ISIS are not active in the area it seems likely that al Nusra and al Qaeda elements are present as well. As Russian PM Dmitri Medvedev recently told TIME, “they’re all bandits.”

Of course Russia isn’t entirely innocent. Although it’s impossible to verify reports, it seems possible that several Russian strikes hit hospitals on Monday, killing scores of civilians including some women and children. Ankara of course seized on the opportunity to accuse the Russians of being terrorists. “These attacks that we strongly condemn are unconscionable and obvious war crime under international law,” a statement from the Turkish foreign ministry reads. ” What is collateral damage when done by American drones becomes terrorism when done by America’s enemies.

The conclusion from all of this is simple: escalation imminent.

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