Turkish leader Recep Tayyip Erdogan, reacting to the developments in Syria, said that the opposition forces continue their advance and their goal is the Syrian capital Damascus.
Points of attention
- Rebels in Syria plan to capture the country's capital - Damascus.
- Opposition forces captured several large cities, including Aleppo.
- The Russian bridgehead in Syria is already under threat.
How events are developing in Syria
The head of state officially confirmed that he had already tried to discuss the future of Syria with Syrian President Bashar al-Assad.
This opposition march continues. Idlib, Hama, Homs and, of course, the goal is Damascus. We turned to Assad and said: "Let's define the future of Syria together." Unfortunately, we could not get a positive answer to this question.
Recep Tayyip Erdogan
President of Turkey
The Turkish leader also claims that the events unfolding in Syria today "are not what we want."
"Unfortunately, the region is in trouble," complained Recep Tayyip Erdogan.
What is important to understand is that fighting in Syria, where civil war has been raging for more than a decade, has recently re-ignited with renewed vigor for the first time in several years.
What is important to understand about the events in Syria
As mentioned earlier, on December 1, the regime of Syrian dictator Bashar al-Assad finally lost control over the city of Aleppo, the second largest city in the country. The participants of the uprising also captured several other large cities.
The fall of Aleppo in just days reversed one of Russia's major achievements in the 2016 Syrian war, when it helped Assad's army take the city. At the time, it was seen as a turning point in the war.
Against the background of the rapid advance of the rebels, the Russian bridgehead in the eastern Mediterranean region was under threat.
What is important to understand is the Tartus Naval Base and the Khmeimim Air Base. Both of them were leased for 49 years after Russia intervened to preserve Bashar al-Assad's regime.
Official Ankara actively supports some rebel groups in Syria and maintains its forces in the north of the country.
