Turkey’s Syrian Gambit Pays Off
14th December 2024
Bashar al-Assad’s regime is the latest casualty of Iran’s war on Israel. After keeping his hold on Syria through 13 years of civil war, Assad fled to Russia last weekend just before a new rebel offensive took Damascus. More than two decades of dictatorship ended in less than two weeks of fighting.
As Assad and his family packed their bags, foreign ministers from Turkey, Iran, and Russia met to discuss Syria’s future. The Iranians and Russians got a big helping of Turkish delight to go with their humble pie. Turkey has emerged as one of the big winners of the faltering American-led order, and others will use Ankara’s secret recipe in the future.
Turkey doesn’t belong in NATO. It doesn’t border the North Atlantic, and the Soviet Union is long gone.