Skip to main content

The Takeaway: February 5, 2020

Highlights: Falling-out between Putin, Erdogan creates opportunity for US; Iran says it remains committed to Damascus; Raspberries from Iran for Trump Mideast plan; and more!

Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan and Russian President Vladimir Putin meet in the Black sea resort of Sochi, Russia February 14, 2019. Sergei Chirikov/Pool via REUTERS - RC1F02430140
Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan and Russian President Vladimir Putin meet in the Black sea resort of Sochi, Russia February 14, 2019. — Sergei Chirikov/Pool via Reuters
@import url('https://fonts.googleapis.com/css?family=Noto+Sans:400,700&subset=latin-ext'); @import url('https://fonts.googleapis.com/css?family=Noto+Serif:400,700&subset=latin-ext'); .undoreset td { border-spacing: 0 !important; } .tab { margin-left: 40px; } body { width: 100% !important; -webkit-text-size-adjust: 100%; -ms-text-size-adjust: 100%; margin: 0; padding: 0; } html, body { margin: 0 auto !important; padding: 0 !important; height: 100% !important; width: 100% !important; background: #ffffff; font-family: 'Noto Sans', Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; } body, td, input, textarea, select { font-family: 'Noto Sans', Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; } .fallback-font { font-family: 'Noto Sans', Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; -webkit-padding-start: auto; } .fallback-font-serif { font-family: 'Noto Serif', 'Times New Roman', serif; } * { -ms-text-size-adjust: 100%; -webkit-text-size-adjust: 100%; } table, td { mso-table-lspace: 0pt !important; mso-table-rspace: 0pt !important; line-height: normal; } table { border-spacing: 0; border-collapse: collapse; table-layout: fixed; margin: 0 auto; font-family: 'Noto Sans', Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; } table table { table-layout: auto; } img { -ms-interpolation-mode: bicubic; } .yshortcuts a { border-bottom: none !important; } a[x-apple-data-detectors], a[href^=tel] { color: inherit !important; text-decoration: underline !important; } .border-top { border-top: 2px solid #111; } .related-stories { color: #000; } /*@media only screen and (max-width: 640px) { .email-container, .email-container table, .email-container tr, .email-container td, .email-container img { width: 100%; } }*/ @media only screen and (max-width: 640px) { .fallback-width { width: 100%; } .fallback-width-sm { width: 90%; } .fallback-width-auto { width: auto; } .fallback-width-half { width: 40%; } }
 
Three quick takes:
 
 

 

 

1. Erdogan and Putin try to pick up the pieces in Syria

 

The United States will convene an emergency UN Security Council meeting Feb. 6 to address a massive humanitarian refugee crisis in Idlib, and to try to exploit a related falling-out between Russian President Vladimir Putin and Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan.

 

The context:

 

Operation Dawn of Idlib: In December 2019 Russian- and Iranian-backed Syrian forces launched a major offensive to retake Idlib province, the last redoubt of as many as 20,000 to 30,000 militant and terrorist groups, including Hayat Tahrir al-Sham (HTS), the progeny of al-Qaeda and Jabhat al-Nusra; affiliated radical jihadi groups; and Turkish-backed Syrian opposition forces. Last week, Syrian forces took Maarat al-Numan, a small town that sits on a strategic Damascus-Aleppo highway in Idlib province. Syria continues to press its attack on Saraqib, another key node on the M4/M5 highways.

SUBSCRIBER EXCLUSIVE

Continue reading this exclusive analysis

Original reporting and analysis unavailable elsewhere. Subscribe to AL-MONITOR to read this story and access everything we publish