Washington’s escalatory steps force Ankara to react – with potentially positive consequences for the stalled Russian-Turkish Sochi agreement.
The news came Wednesday noon and were as brief as precise: Turkish president Erdoğan announced, that he plans to launch a military operation in North-East Syria in the coming days. Two weeks earlier, the US army was reported by a CIA-backed publication to have set up military installations, three in Tal Abyad and two in Kobane. Preparations show, that Erdoğan plans to move quickly:
- – in previous days, Turkish army has brought army personnel of the 3rd Brigade as well as supplies to the Syrian border.
- – on Wednesday, Turkish troops took down walls of the city of Ras al-Ain
- – at the same time, US forces set up an observation post near the town of...