Sochi summit leaves Turkey facing unsavory possibilities
It's unknown how far Moscow will go to appease Ankara with regard to the Syrian Kurds.
Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan returned from the Russian resort city of Sochi last week pleased with his meeting with Russian President Vladimir Putin and Iranian President Hassan Rouhani. Erdogan said that important decisions had been made regarding the future of Syria at the trilateral summit.
Flying back from Sochi, Erdogan told reporters on his plane that the leaders had agreed that the territorial integrity and political unity of Syria should be preserved.
“Our basic aim is to arrive at a respectable political settlement to be accepted by the Syrian people,” Erdogan said. “We discussed the matter of a Syria National Dialogue Congress in detail. We three countries will decide who will be invited to the congress."
Nevertheless, Erdogan’s optimism could not shroud the fact that Turkey is set to face some unsavory facts as the “Astana process” for Syria — initiated by Russia, Iran and Turkey — moves to the next stage, with Moscow calling the shots.
