“The region is on the threshold of a new phase in the Syrian crisis,” Director of the Oriental Studies Institute of the Armenian National Academy of Sciences Ruben Safrastyan told a press conference today.
“Ground forces of other countries will be deployed in Syria soon. Saudi Arabia has already declared about the intention to send forced. The US-led coalition is seriously considering the opportunity to deploy foreign troops,” he said.
Safrastyan added that “Turkey is also mobilizing forces at the Syrian border, but has not reached the ultimate goals it pursued when getting involved in Syria.”
Commenting on the recent developments in Turkey-Vatican relations, Safrastyan warned against hasty conclusions. “Let’s wait and see what happens next,” he said.
Remind that Turkey returned its ambassador to the Vatican on Thursday, nearly 10 months after withdrawing him in protest against Pope Francis’ description of the century-old massacres of Christian Armenians as genocide. Muslim Turkey promptly recalled its envoy.
The decision came after the Vatican on Wednesday praised Turkey’s willingness to open its archives to historians and create a joint commission of scholars to explore past events.
Ruben Safrastyan believes that “what Pope Francis did on April 12, 2015, was simply unprecedented.” Reaching targets through treachery and intrigues has always been an indispensable part of Turkey’s policy, which find sits reflection on the Syrian front, as well. The political scientist said, however, that the policy has been a failure so far.
To solve his personal problems, Erdogan escalated the domestic situation in the country months ago by inciting tensions against Kurds. Erdogan solved his issues through elections, but created a situation that had not been in place for decades. Safrastyan is confident the situation will further deteriorate in the future. “The Turkish policy of the recent months aims to engage the US and NATO into a conflict with Russia, but Turkey has failed here, as well,” he said.