(by Massimiliano D'Elia) The apparent American lack of interest in the Middle East has for some time been favoring new processes of strategic influence of new / old international players. Syria is an area that in this regard is demonstrating how the triumvirate Russia, Turkey, Iran is doing good and bad weather in a perspective that is anything but pacifying, to the detriment, above all, of the Syrian civilian population. Russian President Vladimir Putin, Iranian Hassan Rouhani and Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan are already dividing Syria into respective zones of influence to be established after the war, despite all three leaders having, on several occasions, said they want to respect the territorial integrity of Damascus. Erdogan is also firm in the decision to first wipe out all terrorist groups, including the Kurdish-Syrian militias of the YPG.
The Moscow-Ankara-Tehran agreement freezes any future Assad initiative to take back the areas controlled by the Kurds east of the Euphrates, to the south by the rebel militias and to the north which includes Afrin.
Meanwhile, Erdogan is preparing to widen the Turkish sphere of influence over northern Syria because he has declared that he wants to realize at Tell Abyad, which is currently in the hands of the Kurdish militias YPG, a military hospital that will serve to give care to the wounded who are arriving from the Ghouta, enclave regained by the Syrian forces after a long siege. According to Erdogan, the medical structure will be implemented with the help of the Kremlin.
Moscow and Ankara have also strengthened their military cooperation and this shows a probable veracity of the American withdrawal from Syria. The US president himself Donald Trump said that the withdrawal of US troops will take place as soon as possible. But many indications, however, would show that the US has been increasing its presence in Manbij, a city in northern Syria controlled by the Kurds. Erdogan, in fact not by chance, has recently threatened to attack this town as a Kurdish-Syrian enclave.
The summit was also an opportunity to consolidate cooperation in the military industry. The chiefs of staff, the Turkish Hulusi Akar and the Russian Valery Gerasimov discussed the delivery of the Russian S-400 missile system to be brought forward to 2019 and no longer to 2020, for a counterpart of about 2,5 billion dollars. NATO, in this regard, has always shown its disappointment given that the Russian anti-missile system will never be able to operate with the integrated missile and air defense system of the Alliance.
In Akkuyu, south of Turkey, the first Turkish nuclear power plant will be built by the Russian company Rosatom, at a cost of 20 billion dollars, just 190 kilometers from the NATO military base of Incirlik. At the inaugural ceremony, President Putin declared that the plant will comply with the main safety standards and that the first reactor will be operational by 2023, the year in which the centenary of the founding of the Turkish Republic will be celebrated. Another topic dealt with was the construction of the Turkish Stream gas pipeline which will transport Russian gas to Turkey and southern Europe.