What's behind Ankara’s 'deafening silence' on Aleppo?
Reconciliation with Russia is preventing Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan from blasting away at Syrian President Bashar al-Assad as he once did.
In the past, Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan never missed an opportunity to thrash Syrian President Bashar al-Assad, calling him the “brutal dictator who kills his own people.” These days, however, Erdogan has been noticeably low-key in his criticism of the Syrian leader as his regime pounds Aleppo and, according to independent observers, commits war crimes. It is not difficult to fathom the reason behind Ankara’s reticence to take a tough line in keeping with its stance against such attacks in the past: Russia is also involved in the brutal operation against Aleppo.
During an Oct. 1 address to parliament marking the opening of the new legislative year, Erdogan only touched on the situation in Aleppo once in passing, without mention of anyone specifically while laying blame in general terms on the West.
