Turkey’s outsize ambitions in Syria lie in shreds as forces loyal to President Bashar al-Assad press on to assert control over the rebel strongholds that remain in Aleppo. Ankara's long-running support for the rebels in the war-ravaged city has seemingly been reduced to appeals from Turkish rebel sympathizers on Twitter, with #HaleplcinAyaktayiz, “We Are Mobilized for Aleppo,” trending on the social media site.
The drama in Aleppo, a city seen as key to a rebel victory against Assad, unfolded as Turkey’s prime minister, Binali Yildirim, held talks Dec. 6 in Russia with his counterpart, Dmitry Medvedev, to restore trade and other links that crumbled when Turkey downed a Russian jet over the Syrian border in November 2015.