Syria's interim president visits Turkey
Syria's new interim president Ahmed al-Sharaa has visited Ankara, where he was officially received by Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan. An inaugural visit to Paris is also under discussion. Commentators describe a rapidly changing situation with both winners and losers.
War and victory create their own laws
Yetkin Report is surprised at how quickly the new rulers are being recognised by other countries:
“Two months ago, Ahmed al-Shara, who was still known as Muhammad al-Golani and had a 10 million bounty placed on his head by the US, was considered a terrorist. Today, he was welcomed in Ankara as President. He was welcomed the same way in Riyadh two days ago.Tomorrow, he might be welcomed the same way by Steinmeier or Trump. The day after he was declared interim president on January 29, Qatar’s Emir Sheikh Tamim al-Thani became the first head of state to visit him.We are watching another example of how war and victory create their own laws, live on broadcast.”
Dangerous for the Kurds
Diena comments:
“As part of a first trip abroad in his new role, al-Sharaa travelled to Turkey and requested that it station its military bases on Syrian territory as part of the partnership. ... It is worth mentioning that the Turkish military bases in Syria will probably coexist with the Russian ones. ... Meanwhile, the prospect of a much stronger presence of Turkish troops in Syria is bad news for the Syrian Kurds. ... All the more so given that US President Donald Trump is planning the withdrawal of the remaining US troops from Syria, meaning that the Kurds will lose their main supporters.”