The U.S. got an excellent opportunity to tell Turkey about the “evil Russians”, and at the same time to demand the abandonment of air defense missile systems S-400 “Triumph”, which Ankara acquired from Russia.
Kate Bailey Hutchison, the U.S. Permanent Representative to the North Atlantic Alliance, has already made a telling statement to the Turkish authorities “who can be considered a reliable partner and who can’t”.
“I want to believe that President Erdogan will understand that we are a partner, we have been a partner in the past and we will be in the future, and they have to get rid of C-400”, – Hutchison said, stressing that Ankara will soon have to find out “what Russia really is”.
As News Front previously reported, the U.S. administration was dissatisfied that the Turkish authorities had acquired Russian anti-aircraft missile systems. This fact has seriously damaged relations between Ankara and Washington. Now the U.S. is trying to achieve its goal by taking advantage of the escalation of tensions in Syrian Idlib.
The situation in Syria and the declaration of war
On the eve, Turkish soldiers came under fire in Idlib province. As a result, several dozen soldiers were killed. In response, Turkey has already delivered “revenge strikes” against the Syrian Arab army and promised to build up its forces in Idlib, where Turkish troops are completely illegal.
In addition, an emergency meeting and speech of President Recep Tayyip Erdogan with the announcement of the declaration of war on Syria is expected soon in Ankara.
NATO’s response remains ambiguous. Despite the fact that Turkey has a reason to demand help, the alliance demonstrates its unwillingness to get involved in the conflict on the side of the ally. Earlier, NATO sources confirmed that the bloc’s member countries are not considering applying Article 5 of NATO’s Collective Security Charter to the conflict in Syria. At the same time, NATO expressed confidence that the Turkish army itself is capable of coping with the situation.
The position of the alliance countries is understandable, because for them the Syrian conflict can turn into a war with Russia, which is clearly not ready in the West.