| 28 Dec 2017 – Turkey’s president, Recep Tayyip Erdogan, abandoned a softened approach toward President Bashar al-Assad of Syria, calling Mr. Assad a “terrorist” with no place in Syria’s postwar future. |
| Mr. Erdogan may have intended his remarks as a message to Russia, Mr. Assad’s ally, that it cannot dictate Syria’s postwar future, most notably on issues involving Syria’s Kurdish groups. |
| But even as Mr. Erdogan spoke, his government was finalizing a $2.5 billion deal to purchase Russian missile systems. www.mesop.de |