Putin guides Erdogan along the Road to Damascus

Last week we wrote that Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan was seeking a lifeline in Syria in his meeting three days later with Russian President Vladimir Putin in Moscow.

That lifeline came in the form of the 1998 Adana agreement between Ankara and Syria, which Putin considers a path to Turkish-Syrian coordination against terrorist groups, and which Erdogan sees as an open invitation to attack the People's Protection Units (YPG) in Syria. Turkey considers the YPG a terrorist organization linked to the Kurdistan Workers Party (PKK); the United States also labels the PKK as a terrorist group.

At a joint press conference following his Jan. 23 meeting with Erdogan, Putin said, “The 1998 treaty between the Syrian Arab Republic and the Republic of Turkey is still valid, and it deals specifically with the fight against terrorism. I think this is the legal framework that covers many issues relating to ensuring Turkey’s security on its southern borders. Today we have been discussing this issue thoroughly and intensively.”

“Addressing military cadets a day after returning from Moscow,” reports Semih Idiz, “Erdogan said this accord had resulted in the eventual capture of [PKK leader Abdullah] Ocalan, who is currently serving a life sentence in Turkey. ‘After our meeting with Putin we understand much better the need to bring the Adana Accord back on the agenda, and to concentrate on this with determination,’ Erdogan said.”