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Saudi Arabia and Turkey rolling back on rhetoric to send troops into Syria Clinic hit in Syria as Saudi Arabia, Turkey cool rhetoric on sending in troops
(about 7 hours later)
BAGHDAD — Saudi Arabia and Turkey appeared Monday to be rolling back rhetoric on sending troops to Syria, as officials said they’d wait to see if a planned cease-fire transpires and for a sign-off from the U.S.-led coalition. BAGHDAD — Turkish and Saudi officials on Monday played down reports that the two countries plan to send ground troops to war-ravaged Syria, even as the fighting there intensified and a series of strikes destroyed a hospital in the northern part of that country, medics said.
A Saudi diplomat said Sunday that Saudi Arabia was “very serious” about sending ground troops into Syria, but will first wait to see whether plans for a pause in hostilities agreed by the United States and Russia transpires. Doctors Without Borders said that at least seven people were killed early Monday when rockets hit a clinic that it supports in Idlib province. The group also said eight people were missing in what it called a “deliberate attack.”
However, speaking in Riyadh, Saudi Foreign Minister Adel al-Jubeir also said late Sunday that the decision whether to have a ground component on the ground is up to the U.S.-led coalition. Doctors Without Borders did not say which group or military had fired the rockets. Rights groups have documented numerous Russian and Syrian government strikes on hospitals and medical facilities across the country.
“The timing is not up to us,” he said. The fresh fighting comes after Syrian regime forces — backed by Russian warplanes, Iranian troops and Iraqi militia fighters — have made significant gains against rebel forces in northern Syria in recent weeks. The advances have raised the stakes of the nearly five-year-long conflict, which has already transformed into a proxy war.
Turkey is also considering sending in ground troops, the Saudi diplomat said, speaking on condition of anonymity because of the sensitivity of the topic. [A mini world war rages in the fields of Aleppo]
The Saudi force would be made up of special forces soldiers but details are still being planned, he said. Last week, Turkey and Saudi Arabia, which have supported the Syrian rebels, said that they planned to intensify strikes on the Islamic State in Syria and that they were also considering deploying ground troops to the country. Turkish and Saudi officials walked back those statements on Monday after U.S. diplomats called for calm.
An already tangled conflict has become more complex even as world powers push for a pause in hostilities due to be implemented later this week. Russia has been bombing from the air as Syrian government forces, including Iranian and Iraqi fighters, close in on Aleppo. “It’s not true,” Turkish Defense Minister Ismet Yilmaz said Monday of reports that Turkey had already sent in a limited number of troops.
An array of rebel groups backed by the United States, Turkey and Saudi Arabia have been losing ground. Syria’s state-run Syrian Arab News Agency published a letter from the country’s foreign ministry to the U.N. Security Council over the weekend. It claimed that Turkish forces were among 100 gunmen that entered the country Saturday in an operation to support anti-government rebels.
The “disarray” has spurred Saudi to action, the diplomat said, adding that Riyadh wanting to both counter Islamic State militants and Iranian influence in the country. “There is no thought of Turkish soldiers entering Syria,” Yilmaz said, according to Turkey’s state-run Anadolu Agency.
“Time is running out,” he said. “We are waiting for the peace process to end. We believe it will fail and when it does the situation will be completely different.” Saudi Foreign Minister Adel al-Jubeir also said late Sunday that the decision to deploy ground troops is up to the U.S.-led coalition battling the Islamic State.
He said Saudi Arabia and Turkey are largely “on the same page” but that Ankara is also focused on countering Kurdish forces inside Syria. “The timing is not up to us,” Jubeir said from the Saudi capital, Riyadh.
“The Turkish government has made some progress in their thinking, they realized Daesh is a threat,” the diplomat said, using an Arabic acronym for Islamic State. “But they are also using this as a time to eliminate the Kurdish groups.” But Turkey, which shares a long border with Syria, has vowed to prevent Syrian-Kurdish militias from seizing more territory that they could use for a future state. And Saudi Arabia has already been worried about growing Iranian influence in the region, analysts say.
Turkey has been shelling Kurdish forces this weekend after they seized an airbase in northern Syria, leading to appeals from U.S. officials for a de-escalation. A Saudi diplomat said Sunday that Saudi Arabia was “very serious” about sending ground troops into Syria but that it will wait to see whether plans for a pause in hostilities agreed on by the United States and Russia transpires later this week.
Turkish Defense Minister Ismet Yilmaz Monday denied that Turkish forces had entered Syria following a complaint by the Syrian government to the U.N. Security Council. It claimed that Turkish forces were among 100 gunmen that entered the country on Saturday. The diplomat, who spoke on the condition of anonymity because of the sensitivity of the topic, said the “disarray” on the Syrian battlefield spurred Saudi to action. He added that Riyadh wanted to counter Islamic State militants and Iranian influence in the country.
“It’s not true,” Yilmaz said according to the state-run Anadolu Agency. “There is no thought of Turkish soldiers entering Syria.” “Time is running out,” he said. “We are waiting for the peace process to end. We believe it will fail, and when it does, the situation will be completely different.”
That statement jarred with the Saudi diplomat’s comments. He said Saudi officials discussed the possibility of sending troops with Turkish Prime Minister Ahmet Davutoglu, during a recent three-day visit to Saudi Arabia. He said Saudi officials discussed the possibility of sending troops with Turkish Prime Minister Ahmet Davutoglu during a recent three-day visit to Saudi Arabia. Yilmaz confirmed that a decision had been reached for Saudi Arabia to send four F-16 fighter jets to Turkey’s Incirlik air base.
“Turkey isn’t against the ground troops, but they want to say ‘we gave the peace process a chance’,” he said. Read more:
He said a force would only consist of special forces, and the size of it is still being planned. Today’s coverage from Post correspondents around the world
Yilmaz confirmed that a decision had been reached for Saudi Arabia to send four F-16 fighter jets to Turkey’s Incirlik air base. Cunningham reported from Cairo.
“The Kingdom’s deployment of aircraft to the Incirlik air base in Turkey is part of this campaign,” foreign minister Jubeir told a news conference in Riyadh Sunday, Reuters reported. “The kingdom’s readiness to provide special forces to any ground operations in Syria is linked to a decision to have a ground component to this coalition against Daesh in Syria - this U.S.-led coalition .”