vladimir putin is president assad's closest ally russia has been taking an active part in the war since two thousand and fifteen putin wants to strengthen russia's military presence in the region syria is its sole access point to the mediterranean sea. president hassan rouhani of iran is the other major assad supporter from day one to iran has supported damascus with advisors weapons and troops syria in return provides iran with a crucial route to the hezbollah militia in lebanon. yes turkish president richard type one would like to topple assad supported various radical rebel groups from the start and since january turkey has had troops of its own in syria one of at of on its goals is to limit kurdish influence in the region. during advance recent visit to berlin german chancellor angela merkel agreed to