The Syrian government’s offensive against the last important rebel stronghold in the Idlib province has resulted in skirmishes between the Turkish Armed Forces (Türk Silahlı Kuvvetleri – TSK) present in the area and the Syrian Arab Army (SAA) with its affiliated forces. The situation on the ground is still in development, but we believe that it may contribute to important changes in the landscape of the Syrian war, which most probably is drawing to the end of its current phase. We may also be witnessing a pivotal point of the Russian intervention in Syria. This commentary is intendedto briefly assess the current events and present some possible future scenarios of the conflict, with special attention to the role of Russia.
KBN Commentary no. 3 (58) / 2020
15 February 2020
The Syrian government’s offensive against the last important rebel stronghold in the Idlib province has resulted in skirmishes between the Turkish Armed Forces (Türk Silahlı Kuvvetleri – TSK) present in the area and the Syrian Arab Army (SAA) with its affiliated forces. The situation on the ground is still in development, but we believe that it may contribute to important changes in the landscape of the Syrian war, which most probably is drawing to the end of its current phase. We may also be witnessing a pivotal point of the Russian intervention in Syria. This commentary is intendedto briefly assess the current events and present some possible future scenarios of the conflict, with special attention to the role of Russia.
Photo credit: AFP, via The Arab Weekly, https://thearabweekly.com/turkey-under-pressure-erdogans-declaration-war-idlib-raises-tensions-russia