As Syria rebels face rout, allies Saudi, Turkey may send troops

[Insight]

https://news.yahoo.com/syria-rebels-...071955719.html


As Syria rebels face rout, allies Saudi, Turkey may send troops


By Ian Timberlake 2 hours ago












Riyadh (AFP) - With rebel forces facing the prospect of a crushing defeat by Syria's Russian-backed regime, their allies Saudi Arabia and Turkey may send in limited numbers of ground troops, analysts say.
Riyadh has left open the possibility of deploying soldiers, saying it would "contribute positively" if the US-led coalition against the Islamic State (IS) jihadist group in Syria decides on ground action.
The fate of Saudi-backed Syrian armed opposition groups fighting to topple President Bashar al-Assad is also a major concern for Riyadh.
"I think Saudi Arabia is desperate to do something in Syria," said Andreas Krieg of the Department of Defence Studies at King's College London.
Krieg said the "moderate" opposition is in danger of being routed if Aleppo falls to the regime, whose forces have closed in on Syria's second city, backed by intense Russian air strikes.
"This is a problem for Saudi and Qatar as they have massively invested into Syria via the moderate opposition as their surrogate on the ground," said Krieg, who is also a consultant to Qatar's armed forces.
Russia, which along with Saudi Arabia's regional rival Iran is a major Assad ally, has meanwhile accused Turkey of "preparations for an armed invasion" of Syria.




Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan called the claims "laughable".
On Saturday, Damascus issued a grim warning to both Riyadh and Ankara against any military intervention on the ground.
"Let no one think they can attack Syria or violate its sovereignty because I assure you any aggressor will return to their country in a wooden coffin, whether they be Saudis or Turks," Foreign Minister Walid Muallem said.
- Iran warning -
The commander of Iran's elite Revolutionary Guard mockingly said Saudi Arabia wouldn't dare send ground troops, and that any such intervention would be suicidal.
"I don't think they would dare do that... If they do, they will inflict a coup de grace on themselves," Major General Ali Jafari said.



Aleppo province is among the main strongholds of Syria's armed opposition, which is facing possibly its worst moment since the beginning of the nearly five-year war, at a time when peace efforts have stalled.
The Saudi-backed opposition umbrella group, the High Negotiations Committee, says it will not return to peace talks which recently collapsed in Geneva unless its humanitarian demands are met.
"The Saudis believe that the chance of a peaceful solution for the Syrian crisis is very limited," said Mustafa Alani of the independent Gulf Research Centre.
"They don't see that there is a real pressure on the regime to give major concessions... They think eventually it will have to end in the battlefield.
"Turkey is enthusiastic about this option (of ground troops) since the Russians started their air operation and tried to push Turkey outside the equation," Alani added.
He said the Saudis are serious about committing troops "as part of a coalition, especially if the Turkish forces are going to be involved".





But he and other analysts said Saudi involvement would be limited, given its leadership of a separate Arab coalition fighting in Yemen for almost a year and guarding the kingdom's southern border from attacks by Iran-backed Yemeni rebels.
- Saudis 'overstretched' -
"They are overstretched. But in principle I think they will not hesitate to send a certain number of their fighters to fight in Syria," Alani said, adding that this would probably include Saudi special forces.
Turkey and Saudi already belong to a US-led coalition which officially has 65 members. It has been bombing IS in Syria and Iraq, as well as training local forces to fight the extremists.
Krieg said that with Saudi and other Gulf kingdoms "bogged down" in Yemen, he could only foresee a possible expansion of "train and equip" missions involving Gulf special forces to help rebels in Syria.
"Saudi and Qatar have already networks on the ground," he said, viewing Doha as a link between Riyadh and Ankara as relations improve.
On Friday, US Central Command spokesman Pat Ryder welcomed Saudi Arabia's willingness to send soldiers against IS.
The United States has been calling on coalition members to do more.
In November, the United Arab Emirates said it was also ready to commit ground troops against jihadists in Syria.
Jane Kinninmont, senior research fellow at London's Chatham House, said Riyadh is more interested in the Yemen war than battling IS.
"But what you might see is small numbers of ground troops and perhaps also special forces which would be there partly to make a symbolic point that Saudi Arabia is supporting the fight against ISIS," she said, using another acronym for IS.
She declared herself "a bit sceptical" about potential Turkish army involvement in Syria, "but we might see them having some kind of interest in containing Kurdish influence".

[Insight]

I think Turkey will send troops to Syria although Im not sure about the Saudis. In any case, Saudi army is not technically Saudi. They get other troops from the region, and give them Saudi citizenship.

[Khostai]

Saudi acting dum again, they are involved in Yemen what cost them billions and now they want to invade Syria? Are they sure have enough money to fight two battles at the same time?

[Insight]

Erdogan Signals Turkey Prepared to Join Syria War If Asked

http://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2016-02-07/erdogan-signals-turkey-won-t-stay-out-of-syria-if-asked-to-join

Erdogan Signals Turkey Prepared to Join Syria War If Asked

Benjamin Harvey

Salma El Wardany
February 7, 2016 — 6:27 AM EST
Updated on February 7, 2016 — 10:43 AM EST


Erdogan says Turkey shouldn't repeat mistake it made on Iraq
Rebels supported by Turkey are losing ground to Assad



President Recep Tayyip Erdogan said his country shouldn’t repeat in Syria the same mistake it made when it turned down a U.S. request to join the coalition that toppled Saddam Hussein.

Gulf states, meanwhile, said they’d send ground troops into Syria, where military gains led to the breakoff of already troubled peace talks between the government and rebels.

“We don’t want to fall into the same mistake in Syria as in Iraq,” Erdogan said, recounting how Turkey’s parliament denied a U.S. request to use its territory for the 2003 invasion of Iraq. “It’s important to see the horizon. What’s going on in Syria can only go on for so long. At some point it has to change,” he told journalists on the return flight from a tour of Latin America, according to Hurriyet newspaper.

Opposition forces supported by Turkey and Saudi Arabia are losing more ground to the troops of Syrian President Bashar al-Assad, who is backed by Hezbollah militants and Russian airstrikes. Turkey has repeatedly urged the U.S.-led coalition fighting Islamic State militants in Syria and Iraq to increase its support for moderate rebel groups seeking the ouster of Assad.
Talks Suspended

Asked if Turkey could manage some sudden development in Syria, Erdogan said: “You don’t talk about these things. When necessary, you do what’s needed. Right now our security forces are prepared for all possibilities.”

The United Nations last week suspended its long-awaited peace conference in Geneva until later this month, after Syrian forces launched a major offensive against rebels, edging closer to retake the city of Aleppo. The talks came after four months of Russian air strikes helped to reverse the tide of the war in favor of Assad’s military.

“What are you doing in Syria? You’re essentially an occupier,” Erdogan said, addressing Russian President Vladimir Putin, the daily reported.

Erdogan also criticized the U.S. for backing Syrian Kurdish fighters that Turkey classifies as terrorists. Last week Brett McGurk, President Barack Obama’s envoy for the international coalition against Islamic State, visited the Syrian town of Kobani, where Kurds fought back a siege by Islamic State near Turkey’s border last year.

“How can we trust you?” Erdogan said of McGurk’s visit. “Is your partner me, or is it those terrorists in Kobani?”
Join Coalition

With rebels losing ground, Gulf states said they would be prepared to send in ground troops as part of an international coalition battling Islamic State.

“A real campaign against Daesh has to include ground elements,” Anwar Gargash, U.A.E. minister of state for foreign affairs, said when asked if the emirates would send ground troops to fight Islamic State, using an Arabic acronym for the group.

“We’re not talking about thousands of troops, but we are talking about troops on the ground that will lead the way, that will train, that will support,” Gargash said at a news conference in Abu Dhabi on Sunday. American leadership of such an effort “is a prerequisite,” he added.

Ahmed Asseri, a spokesman for the Saudi Arabia-led coalition fighting Yemen, said Saudis would also be willing to contribute ground troops as part of a wider campaign against Islamic State in Syria, Al-Arabiya television reported Friday.