Limited impact of US-Turkey tensions on Syria
US President Joe Biden and Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan (Edited by Enab Baladi)
Enab Baladi-Amal Rantisi
Tensions between Washington and Ankara have further escalated within the first 100 days of Joe Biden’s presidency, when Biden officially recognized the massacre of Armenians under the Ottoman Empire in Turkey’s Central Anatolia Region as a genocide.
The official recognition came in a statement published by the White House on 24 April, coinciding with the anniversary of “the Armenian genocide,” which Turkey is accused of.
Recognition of the genocide is not the only problem between the two NATO allies, but it was the most severe, which resulted in the Turkish Foreign Ministry summoning the US ambassador to Ankara, David Satterfield, to inform him of Turkey’s rejection of Biden’s statements.
Can Russia remove al-Assad regime’s security services in Syria?
Vladimir Putin visits the Russian Armed Forces Command Center in Syria- 7 January 2020 (the official account of the Syrian Presidency)
Enab Baladi-Amal Rantisi
The surprise visit of the Russian President, Vladimir Putin, to Damascus, on 7 January 2020, shocked Syrians because security services were not informed of the visit’s details, or the security preparations that preceded it.
The Chief of the General Staff of the Russian Armed Forces, Valery Gerasimov, revealed the security plan drawn up for Russian President Vladimir Putin’s visit to Damascus back then, Russian broadcaster RT reported.
Gerasimov said, “it was decided to publicize the visit as if it were for Defense Minister Sergey Shoigu, not President Putin.”