...the occupiers of Greek Asia Minor...
and Syria spiked dramatically on Monday when Syrian-Russian axis warplanes bombed a
Syrian-Russian axis ground forces are also very close to cutting off
Alongside the air strikes, the situation around Khan Shaykhun attests to an escalated axis effort to dramatically reduce
...Turkey's version of Mohammed Morsi but they voted him back in so they deserve him. It's a sin, a shame, and a felony to insult the president of Turkey. In Anatolia did Recep Bey a stately Presidential Palace decree, that has 1100 rooms. That's 968 more than in the White House, 400 more than in Versailles, and 325 more than Buckingham Palace, so you know who's really more important...
's influence in Syria. Erdogan's continuing support for Syrian rebel groups, including al Qaeda's Syrian syndicate, Hayat Tahrir al-Sham, formerly al-Nusra, before that it was called something else
...al-Qaeda's Syrian affiliate, from which sprang the Islamic State..., has infuriated the axis. But the axis isn't simply fighting terrorists. A large number of Syrian rebels are simply protecting their families from the axis annihilation campaign.
The axis hopes that by shutting off Turkey's access to its observation post it can push Turkey out of Hama governate and weaken Erdogan's resolve. That will allow the axis to shape the battlespace for a final offensive on Idlib governate. That matters because Idlib is the remaining key to the axis effort to crush the resistance. Testifying to their malevolent interest, the axis has escalated attacks on civilians (especially medical teams) in rebel-held areas.
As Charles Lister notes, Turkey responded to the air strike on its forces by deploying combat and intelligence aircraft into Russian-controlled Syrian airspace. That's an effort to nudge Vladimir Putin
...President-for-Life of Russia. He gets along well with other presidents for life. He is credited with bringing political stability and re-establishing something like the rule of law, which occasionally results in somebody dropping dead from poisoning by polonium or other interesting substance. Under Putin, a new group of business magnates controlling significant swathes of Russia's economy has emerged, all of whom have close personal ties to him. The old bunch, without close personal ties to Putin, are in jail or in exile or dead from poisoning by polonium or other interesting substances..., to reassess his decision to unleash Assad, or face
That said, weakened at home, Erdogan may see a short escalation as a chance to rally his nationalist-Islamist base, then extract a cease-fire on better terms.
Over the past four years Erdogan has gone back and forth between resisting axis ambitions (in an effort to make himself the father-protector of Syrian Sunnis), and bowing to Putin. Alongside numerous other incidents, Monday's air strike proves that Putin retains the initiative.
Related:
Khan Shaykhun: 2019-07-20 Squadron of warplanes and helicopter carry out tens of airstrikes on areas in the countryside of Hama and Idlib
Khan Shaykhun: 2018-09-05 Trump wanted to ‘f***ing kill’ Assad after alleged 2017 chemical weapons attack
Khan Shaykhun: 2018-08-31 Lavrov warns West ‘don’t play with fire’ in Syria
Khan Shaykhun: 2019-07-20 Squadron of warplanes and helicopter carry out tens of airstrikes on areas in the countryside of Hama and Idlib
Khan Shaykhun: 2018-09-05 Trump wanted to ‘f***ing kill’ Assad after alleged 2017 chemical weapons attack
Khan Shaykhun: 2018-08-31 Lavrov warns West ‘don’t play with fire’ in Syria
Related:
Recep Tayyip Erdogan: 2019-08-07 Stay out of Syria, US defense chief tells Erdogan
Recep Tayyip Erdogan: 2019-08-06 Turkey informs US, Russia about upcoming military operation in eastern Euphrates region: Erdogan
Recep Tayyip Erdogan: 2019-08-04 Construction of first church ever built in modern Turkey begins
Recep Tayyip Erdogan: 2019-08-07 Stay out of Syria, US defense chief tells Erdogan
Recep Tayyip Erdogan: 2019-08-06 Turkey informs US, Russia about upcoming military operation in eastern Euphrates region: Erdogan
Recep Tayyip Erdogan: 2019-08-04 Construction of first church ever built in modern Turkey begins