Hi everyone,
Sorry I haven’t been writing lately, this month of November has been a month of highs and lows, so I’m glad that I am taking a moment to write. My mind and my heart are intertwined; I can write now because my heart is still so my mind is calm. To be honest, I am glad November is over so I am looking forward to the future with December and interested to see what 2020 brings.
I’ve clipped this newspaper article out since I read it on Saturday, November 2nd because it’s been on my mind. I’ve been writing alot about Canadian politics lately, so I want to focus on my other areas of interest, pretty much anything involving Russia or China. The introductory pictures above are from Turkey and Russia, two countries I’ve traveled to in the same summer.
This article here discusses how Turkey and Russia are holding joint patrols in Syria. The article states that Russia is Syria’s strongest ally, and that their consistent support since 2015 has allowed the Syrian government to maintain a stronghold against the Kurdish militia. While Syrian relations with Russia have been strong since 2015, what is new is that Russia’s relations with Turkey has also strengthened with a joint patrol the week before, thus directly benefiting the Syrian government because this joint patrol allowed the Syrian government regain land that they haven’t had control over in years.
What I what to emphasize is: why? We know the ‘how’- Russia is the ally of both Turkey and Syria thereby facilitating action in the region and enabling the Syrian government to maintain power.
The ‘why’ I want to emphasize is because Turkey and Syria share a common enemy too: the Kurdish YPG militia, and therefore, a good reason to cooperate. As I learned in introductory international relations course in university, non-state actors can be a destabilizing force for the various countries that they reside in (and also because they are from the same ethnic group, united to each other creating a loyalty that transcends national borders).
A couple months ago, I wrote about how increased relations between those two states are compromising Turkey’s alliance with Western countries when Turkey bought weapons from Russia (which you can read here). Turkey is in the middle: a member nation of the North American Treaty Organization (NATO), an international alliance made up of North America and European countries against the Soviet Union. For even more context: there are tensions between Russia and the West, with many stating that this polarity has not been this apparent since the Cold War.
That was back in July. Now, it is autumn so I am surprised to see that their loyalty has veered even more towards Russia and escalated from holding joint military exercises to actual, on-the-ground warfare, albeit in another country dependent on Russian support.
I am curious where this will lead. This conflict with Syria has been in the news since 2015. This has affected Canada, which accepted 50,000 Syrian refugees who fled the conflict. 2020 will mark five years, so hopefully the bloodshed and instability will cease in the new year.
Talk to you soon,
Guest
