Turkey`s position has strengthened

Apparently, the Russian head of state felt confident that he could suppress Tayyip Erdoğan by uniting with the Iranian head of state in Tehran. However, the war he entered into with Ukraine caused the compass of the Russian head of state to become so confused that he forgot that the pressures he had put on Erdoğan, whom he knew very well, in Sochi, Moscow, and Tehran since 2018 were in vain. In the Syria issue, this time, Tehran hit the ball more sharply (although it is possible to analyze Vladimir Putin's greetings from the head of state of Azerbaijan to his Turkish counterpart from many points of view, it would not be wrong to attribute it to his confusion).

When Iran, which sees Russia's attack on Ukraine as an opportunity, combined its support with Russia's unconditional support for the Assad regime by deploying the Hezbollah terrorist organization it has long supported and its own special forces into the field in Syria, not only does it believe that it will prevent Turkey from conducting an operation on the other side of the border, it almost behaves like the owner of Syria.

Just as Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan kept his composure in Tehran again and again, he also paid his debt to Vladimir Putin: On March 6, 2020, the Russian head of state, who had Erdoğan waited at the door of the Kremlin for more than two minutes, received his answer in accordance with the tradition of the Turkish state, which came from the Ottoman Empire.

The Tehran meeting was not the "development of the Astana format" as claimed by columnists who are in love with Russia. In February 2017, how could one develop a process that was already stillborn? It is enough to look at such comments to see the poor situation of some Turkish columnists.

In fact, we should say that Recep Tayyip Erdoğan is the best prepared for the Tehran meeting of the heads of state of Russia, Iran, and Turkey. So, Turkey correctly calculated in advance that Vladimir Putin would demand the next time to clear Idlib from jihadist groups and that Ebrahim Raisi would oppose the planned operation in the north-eastern region of Syria, so it was not difficult for Mr. Erdoğan to repel attacks related to these issues.

On the other hand, observations show that the Turkish president went to Tehran not only for the purpose of defense but also for the purpose of attacking from defense.

It is known to the readers that Russia vetoed the sending of humanitarian aid by the Scandinavian countries to Syria at the UN Security Council from the territory of Turkey from the Cilvegözü station on the border of Turkey with Syria. Since July 1, humanitarian aid is not sent to the northern regions of Syria from the territory of Turkey. In fact, Russia keeps the door to Syria closed from the territory of a NATO country by blocking the humanitarian aid of the Scandinavian countries to Syria at the UN Security Council.

Russia is also worried about the only border gate opened to Azerbaijan, it does not want the border gate on the southern wing of NATO to remain open to a country that is an ally. In other words, when Russia, which "thinks that it is oppressing Turkey from both directions" according to its own logic and mathematics, dreamed of not only preventing Turkey from organizing a new military operation in Syria but also putting an end to its existence there, by further activating its eternal ally, the Tehran regime, President Erdoğan knocked the bottom out of those dreams with a well-defined attack tactic.

The fact that Mr. Erdoğan has been openly blaming the United States and President Biden for supporting the Kurdish separatist-terrorist groups in the northeastern region of Syria after returning to Turkey has no effect on the main goal. The main goal is that NATO will help unconditionally if Turkey is threatened by Russia and Iran in Syria.

This is one of the main reasons for the brave behavior of the Turkish president at the Tehran meeting: If there is talk of a confrontation between Russia and Turkey in Syria - with Iran or without Iran - it can be predicted that NATO will be pleased with this situation. Joining the second conflict in Syria after Ukraine will inevitably split Russia's forces; non-participation will mean that a wider area of ​​Syria will come under the control of Turkey. If Iran decides to support Russia, it is not difficult to see the position of wealthy Arab countries that have already reconciled with Turkey against Iran. There is no question of any change in the traditional way of Israel. Therefore, if some deep-rooted issues are not resolved at the Tehran meeting, it will cause Russia to come face to face with Turkey on Syrian territory, in fact, this will be a situation that NATO would like from the bottom of its heart.

Therefore, the position shown by Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan in Tehran has strengthened the hand of Ankara for the short term, the medium term, and the long term. Here, the step that Turkey should take without delay is to announce that it has given up the S-400 air defense systems purchased from Russia, which have not yet been used although three years have passed, and at all costs, to strengthen the work of integrating weapons and ammunition with NATO.

It should not be difficult for a 70-year-old member of NATO to do this.