Russia, Turkey Presidents Discuss Deeper Partnership in Syria

Erdogan increasingly turns to Putin as the U.S. prepares to withdraw troops from northern Syria

By David Gauthier-Villars, WSJ

The discussions in Moscow between Vladimir Putin and Recep Tayyip Erdogan are a diplomatic minefield because Russia and Turkey stand on opposite sides of the nearly eight-year war in Syria, with Moscow backing the Assad regime, and Ankara supporting rebel groups.

Mr. Erdogan has touted the idea of creating a safe zone on the Syrian side of the 510-mile border, saying Turkish troops stood ready to seize the area by launching an offensive against Kurdish fighters, on whom the U.S. leaned on in the campaign against Islamic State. The Turkish president describes the Kurdish fighters as a terrorist group.

“We respect the interests of our Turkish friends to defend their security,” Mr. Putin told reporters at a joint news conference.

The Russian leader has been attentive to Mr. Erdogan’s security concerns on hope, analysts say, to drive a wedge between the U.S. and Turkey, the North Atlantic Treaty Organization’s second-largest military.

In September, Mr. Putin vetoed an Assad regime plan to evict Turkish-backed rebels from the northwestern province of Idlib when Mr. Erdogan warned that an attack would cause a humanitarian catastrophe. Mr. Putin said on Wednesday that a cease-fire agreement covering the province has been marred by multiple breaches but vowed to keep working with Turkey to enforce it.

“Russia is not looking through the window of tactical or strategic gains on the ground,” said Abdullah Agar, a Turkish military analyst. “It views talks with Turkey as a historic opportunity to draw an important geopolitical partner away from the U.S. and closer to Russia.”

Mr. Putin, however, sought to cap Turkey’s military ambitions in Syria, saying he supported budding contacts between the Assad regime and the Kurdish fighters who control the triangle-shaped area between the Euphrates River and the Turkish and Iraqi borders where U.S. troops are spread. “Without doubt, such a dialogue will help consolidate the Syrian society and national reconciliation,” he said.

The Russian and Turkish presidents said they would continue talks on Syria, directly or at the ministerial level, as well as at a coming three-way summit with Iran.

Despite its historical alliance with the U.S, Turkey is increasingly turning to Russia to resolve Syrian matters amid persistent tension with Washington.

Turkey and the U.S. had appeared to be opening a new chapter in October when Ankara released American pastor Andrew Brunson, whose two-year detention on terror charges had clouded the relationship. And in late December, President Trump said he had made his decision to withdraw troops from Syria after a telephone conversation with Mr. Erdogan.

But the U.S.-Turkey relationship remains plagued by unresolved issues, from Ankara’s decision to purchase an advanced Russian antimissile shield, to Washington’s prolonged alliance with the Syrian Kurdish YPG militia.

Last week, Mr. Trump vowed to wreck Turkey’s economy if Ankara targeted the U.S. allies in Syria. “Will devastate Turkey economically if they hit Kurds,” Mr. Trump said on Twitter.

“The president of the United States has gone out very undiplomatically to threaten Turkey,” said Ahmet Kasim Han, a foreign affairs professor at Altinbas University in Istanbul. “You have a very explosive mix.”

Although Mr. Trump has encouraged the creation of a 20-mile safe zone along Turkey’s border with Syria, U.S. and Turkish officials have yet to agree on who would control it. Washington has proposed leaving some cities in the hands of the YPG, a nonstarter for Ankara, which says the group is affiliated with the U.S.-outlawed Kurdistan Workers’ Party, or PKK.

Mr. Han said any safe zone raised questions as to what would be beyond it. If Kurdish fighters succeeded in controlling an area beyond the 20th mile, it would be a “nightmare for Turkey,” he said.