MESOP NEWS : UNITED STATES NO LONGER RELEVANT ! – Turkey & Russia Negotiate Over Aleppo Province

November 26 – 2016 –   – Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan and Russian counterpart Vladimir Putin have discussed the state of fighting in northern Syria, as both countries back their local allies in military operations. The catalyst for the phone conversation was the first Assad regime attack on Turkish troops, who are supporting a rebel offensive against the Islamic State in Aleppo Province. Thursday’s airstrike, the first by the Syrian military on Turkish forces, killed three soldiers and injured 10. The Turkish-rebel offensive is closing on the town of al-Bab, ISIS’s main position in the province. However, both pro-Assad forces and the Kurdish militia YPG are also close to the town, northeast of Aleppo city.

Meanwhile, Russia and the Assad regime are trying to break resistance in opposition-held eastern Aleppo city, re-imposing a siege in late August and killing more than 1,000 people in bombing and shelling since September 19.  Shortly before cutting off eastern Aleppo, Erdoğan met Putin in Moscow in a further easing of tension, following last November’s downing of a Russian warplane by Ankara’s jets near the Turkish-Syrian border.Some observers speculated at the time that a deal was struck in which Turkey accepted the Russian-regime assault on Aleppo city, while Moscow agreed to Turkey’s intervention alongside rebels across northern Aleppo Province.According to the Turkish Presidency, Erdoğan told Putin that Turkey respected Syria’s territorial integrity and that its military operations were directed against ISIS.

The Turkish sources said the two leaders agreed to try to resolve the humanitarian crisis in eastern Aleppo city.Russia and the Assad regime have cut off any aid effort to the area. After a Russian-regime bombing of a convoy on September 19, the UN halted attempts to deliver food and supplies, and the Assad regime refused all requests for access. The last rations were distributed two weeks ago. Rebels agreed this week to a UN plan for aid and medical evacuations, but the Assad regime has not responded.The Kremlin said the discussion was “constructive”, with an agreement to continue dialogue to coordinate efforts against “international terrorism”. www.mesop.de