After Friday prayers in Ankara, Turkish President Tayyip Erdogan issued an unexpected statement which for many is tantamount to a full-on admission this his intelligence services are behind Hayat Tahrir al-Sham's capture of Aleppo, and ongoing blitz south.
"The target is Damascus," he said bluntly. "I would say we hope for this advance to continue without any issues." Thus the president of Turkey has just issued over approval for a jihadist-led regime change operation, which echoes the bloodshed of over a decade ago which began in 2011.
Via AFPBut then given Turkey is a NATO member state, he quickly sought to put a little distance between himself and the fact that it's a US-designated terrorist group leading the offensive, which is currently threatening central Syria, particularly the strategic city of Homs.
"However, while this resistance there with terrorist organizations is continuing, we had made a call to Assad," he continued. It's been well-known that Assad has long rebuffed these overtures, even as other regional states return their ambassadors to Damascus.
"These problematic advances continuing as a whole in the region are not in a manner we desire, our heart does not want these. Unfortunately, the region is in a bind," Erdogan continued, without giving further details.
Erdogan has just announced he’s being the invasion of Syria which he hopes will go to Damascus.
— Syrian Girl 🇸🇾 (@Partisangirl) December 6, 2024
What next from Astana, Russia & Iran?pic.twitter.com/7tOHuskFXY
Turkish forces have for years occupied a northern strip of Syria, northeast of Aleppo, and next to where the US occupation has been maintained.
Damascus has long charged Turkey with facilitating a 'jihadi highway' of foreign fighters into sovereign Syrian territory, unleashing hell on the population - including the Kurds (who are hated by Turkey). This is something even US and Western officials have long admitted happened, even in the case of the rise of ISIS.
BREAKING- Erdogan says he hopes Syrian rebels’ march to Homs and Damascus will continue without any accidents and troubles.
— Ragıp Soylu (@ragipsoylu) December 6, 2024
“We had called Assad. We said, let's determine the future of Syria together. We did not receive a positive response.”
pic.twitter.com/zy5cqE37Bg
Indeed the so-called Astana deal and process appears to be in complete shambles, already a thing of the past, as Russian and Syrian warplanes are struggling to bomb the numerous Turkish proxies making their way south on a central highway.
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