annatar1914 wrote:@noemon :
Regardless of coordination or not, this is a big win for Turkiye and that is something that everyone will be paying for in a few years. I dont think that the West minds much now, because i believe that they think that they can get away with outsourcing their middle eastern problems to the Turks for a solution.
Over time they'll be meddling in the Balkans, for sure.
Both Macron and Scholz have come out with support for the rebels in the last few hours so, yeah, things haven't changed since 2011. France was early in demanding Assad's departure and first in recognizing the national coalition (SOC) as the legitimate opposition to the regime. The rise of Daesh gave some pause with the string of gruesome terror attacks in France in 2016, but now we seem to be back on track.
Everything in life is priorities and compromises. With near total focus on combating Russian influence on several fronts (Eastern Europe, Middle East, Northern Africa), many things have become permissible that earlier would be unthinkable. Even if Turkey became more involved in the Balkans, it might not sway them, as we've seen growing Russian influence in several countries in the region. They might calculate that Turkish influence might off-set this. Handling Turkey is like going to battle with a cobra in your hand, not knowing which way it's going to bite.