Two events have happened recently that indicate that Turkey has lost faith in possible stabilization of the relationships with Russia in the near future, and that Turkey is preparing to an open conflict with Russia.
Yesterday Turkish artillery shelled the Syrian air base Manag in Aleppo province. Russia was planning to deploy another air base there, and some time before that Russian air force has cleared a “corridor” for the units of Kurdish party they support, who took over the airfield.
At the moment of firing there was no Russian units at the airfield, so Russia has no reason to accuse Turkey of an unfriendly act, but it appears that the shelling puts an end to Russia’s plans to use this air field.
The second news is the deployment of Saudi army on the territory of Turkey, who provided its territory for unfolding the Saudi ground operation (and possibly – for NATO’s) against the ISIS, and, supposedly, against Assad.
The Ministry of Defence of Saudi Arabia confirmed that F-16 aircrafts of Saudi Royal Air Force have been deployed to the air base Incirlik in southern Turkey. At the same time a representative of the Ministry of Defense of Saudi Arabia Brigade General Ahmad al-Assir did not deny that Saudi Arabia is also planning to transfer ground troops to the same base.
Earlier, US Secretary of Defense Ashton Carter welcomed the expansion of Saudi participation in the operation. Representatives of the Saudi leadership said that entering Syria is inevitable, and it will be performed from the territory of Turkey.
Source: shipilov.com
Image: U.S. Army Europe Images (under CC BY 2.0)
