Conflicting statements from Turkey’s president about the country’s ill-fated Syria policy have apparently disrupted secret talks between Syrian opposition rebels and Russia that are being brokered by his own government. The Financial Times reported today that negotiations over an Aleppo cease-fire were derailed after Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan said Turkey’s sole purpose in sending its troops to Syria were to overthrow the country’s President Bashar al-Assad.
The talks apparently resumed only after Erdogan and Putin spoke on the phone on Nov. 30. On the same day, Erdogan publicly declared that the target of the Turkish-led Operation Euphrates Shield in northern Syria was "not a particular country or individual" but "solely terrorist organizations."