Russian-Turkish Alliance Could Prevent NATO From Breaking Up Syria

Growing US pressure on NATO and the alliance’s recent decision to join the anti-terrorist coalition in Syria has revived concerns that the block might become a force threatening the territorial integrity of Syria. Turkish political analyst Nursin Atesoglu Guney told Sputnik how Russia and Turkey might prevent the breakdown of the Syrian state.

Nursin Atesoglu Guney said that the alliance of Turkey and Russia and their cooperation as a counter to the US' pressure on NATO and its arms supplies to the Syrian Kurds may play a decisive role in preventing the breakup of the Syrian state.

The political analyst further explained why the agreement between Moscow and Ankara on the territorial integrity of Syria is of vital importance.

"Russia is convinced that the major purpose of the US is to strengthen its influence in Syria through the Kurdish Democratic Union Party (PYD), which it is using as its tool. For this particular purpose the US will try to partition Syria," she told Sputnik Turkiye.

Turkey, in its turn, has joined the plan on the de-escalation or safe zones in Syria, the political analyst said. Ankara now hopes that the US will choose the political settlement of the Syrian conflict. To be able to settle the Syrian crisis politically, Ankara might agree that President Assad will remain in power for a certain period of time. However it will put forward a number of conditions, such as, for example, the presence of the Free Syrian Army on the Syrian territory and the guarantee of the territorial integrity of the country.

"With regards to the NATO decision to join the anti-terrorist coalition in Syria, the main issue on the agenda is whether the Alliance is going to send its Ground Forces into the country.  It looks highly unlikely. The Alliance won't resort to such a step as it knows that it is going to face the negative reaction of Russia, which remains one of the key deterrents," Guney told Sputnik.

Turning NATO into a tool to support the PYD and the US and German arms supplies to the Syrian Kurds might become a cause for the launch of a new Cold War, the political analyst explained. She said that under the pretext of its fight against Daesh, PYD is trying to pursue its own purposes, The US should take into account the lessons of the past: in Afghanistan, it was also supporting the Afghan mujahedeen, however it subsequently lost control over these groups.

A similar situation might unfold in Syria with the PYD. To avoid such a scenario, the US should set up a system of cooperation and coordination with Russia in Syria, as the Syrian crisis can't be resolved only with the help of the regional forces, she concluded.