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Erdogan has seemingly abandoned military operation against Syria’s Kurds.
Written by Ahmed Adel, Cairo-based geopolitics and political economy researcher
The message from Tehran following the trilateral meeting between Russia, Iran and Turkey signals that Moscow, despite constant claims by Western leaders, is not isolated from most of the world because of the military operation in Ukraine. The July 19 meeting in Tehran is seemingly an important catalyst for many sovereign countries that believe that the time has come to end Western dominance and demands over states seeking sovereignty, and it is for this reason that there is a bombardment in Western media that this was a meeting between isolated states.
One New York Times headline reads: “Putin Finds a New Ally in Iran, a Fellow Outcast”, while another article from the same publication described that the meeting as potentially being a “new anti-American alliance.”
This leads to two questions though: is Russia an international outcast and is the trilateral relationship an anti-American alliance?
Iran, which has suffered from Western sanctions is sympathetic to the reasons for Russia’s special military operation in Ukraine and is ready to enhance on any kind of cooperation with the Eurasian country on the political, energy and military levels. Iran is ready cooperate with Russia in all sectors, continues the construction of gas pipelines through its territory and, together with Saudi Arabia and Russia, fulfils India’s energy needs.
Attempting to isolate Russia, the world’s largest country and an important energy provider, is a futile effort. Instead, the West’s efforts to isolate Russia from the world has rather seen the opposite effect as Russia continues to improve its relations with China, India, Africa and Latin America, among others.
The meeting in Tehran will have repercussions in terms of closer integration between these countries.
When it comes to the plans of Turkey, which had a notable role at the meeting in Tehran, its own regional ambitions were acknowledged and discussed, particularly its plans for a military operation in northern Syria against the People’s Protection Units (YPG), the Syrian branch of the Kurdistan Workers Party (PKK), a militant group recognised as a terrorist organisation by Turkey.
The joint statement of Russia, Turkey and Iran on Syria effectively highlights Turkey’s abandonment of its ambitions, even when it comes to redefining the borders towards Syria and expressing ambitions towards the area inhabited by Kurds.
Iranian Supreme Leader Ali Khamenei warned Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan against carrying out an operation in Syria, and in a separate meeting, he told him that any military attack would be harmful for Turkey, Syria and the entire region.
“Terrorism must definitely be confronted, but a military attack on Syria will only benefit the terrorists,” said a message posted on Khamenei’s Twitter account alongside a photograph of him meeting with Erdogan. Publicly, mostly for the internal audience of Turkey, Erdogan said: “Our fight against terrorist organisations will continue everywhere. We expect Russia and Iran to support Turkey in this struggle.”
Russian President Vladimir Putin laid out the groundwork though and said the three countries had agreed on a joint declaration to work together for a “normalisation of the situation” in Syria, making it clear that there would be no Western involvement in the country. The “destructive policy of Western countries led by the United States,” Putin claims, is aimed at the “dismemberment of the Syrian state.”
The agreed positions of the three leaders – Russia, Turkey and Iran – will contribute to the stabilisation of the situation in Syria and the elimination of American interests in the region, which includes the illegal extraction of Syrian oil.
More importantly, the meeting in Tehran could be a turning point in the regrouping of world forces. Latin American and African already express solidarity with Russia in its struggle against Western domination. For non-Westerners, it is clear that the Ukrainian war is actually one between Russia and NATO’s struggle for hegemony.
The majority of the world, over 80 percent of humanity, supports the idea of a new multipolar world order. If Russia, Iran and Turkey can bring the Syrian war to a peaceful conclusion, which mostly hinges on Ankara’s abandonment of its neo-Ottoman policy towards Syria, it will be a major blow to the US’s efforts to remain relevant in the Middle East. This blow would prove to be even bigger than Joe Biden’s disastrous recent trip to Saudi Arabia.
