Turkey Risks Being Left Out of the Peace Talks on Syria

Amid reports that US Secretary of State Rex Tillerson is getting a "chilly reception" in Moscow following the recent US missile attack on a Syrian air base, Abdullah Ağar, a former Turkish commando and an expert in counterterrorism operations told Sputnik Turkiye what impact tensions between Russia and the US might have on his home country.

US Secretary of State Rex Tillerson seems to be receiving a "chilly reception" in Moscow. Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov told him that Russia views the US strikes in Syria as a violation of the law and warned against any future US attacks on the Arab country.

The comments come after the US Secretary of State on Tuesday offered Russia to choose between having good relations with the US and their allies or carry on its support for Syrian President Bashar al-Assad, Iran and Hezbollah.

Commenting on the visit of the US top diplomat to Moscow, Abdullah Ağar, a former Turkish commando, and an expert in counterterrorism operations who took part in the Turkish military operation in Syria told Sputnik Turkiye that the US' suggestion seems not to be working.

Meanwhile, he said, Turkey, among other countries which supported the US' strike on Syria, has taken in the demonstrative gestures of Washington. Ankara, therefore, once again risks being left out of the peace talks on Syria, as happened last May, when Russia and the US reached agreements on the settlement of the Syrian crisis without Turkey.

"Lavrov and Kerry had a number of meetings on Syria. However the agreements they reached have not been fully implemented. The US has been behaving insincerely. Such inconsistency still remains in Washington's words and actions," Ağar told Sputnik.

He noted that the US leads the international coalition which claims to be fighting against Daesh (the Islamic State). However what it is really doing in Syria is occupying the Syrian territories for the Kurdish People's Protection Units (YPG).

"The question that has to be answered here is: did Daesh emerge by itself, and what purpose and in whose interests does it pursue in the region?" the expert said.

The US' approach towards Syria is asymmetric and provocative, he added. Unless it gives up such an approach, which does not consider the sovereignty and the will of the Syrian people, the Syrian conflict won't be settled.

"Ankara understands this. And it has taken a wait-and-see approach in order not to be to be left out of the peace talks on Syria, as it happened last May, when Russia and the US reached agreements on the settlement of the Syrian crisis without Turkey," Ağar said.

"Turkey understands that the US is playing a dishonest game trying to subdue not only the 11 players [of one team] but all 22 players and the referee. It also understands that sooner or later the US will use YPG forces against Ankara, hence it can't trust the US but still delegates Washington its role in the Syrian peace process. Instead, it should act as an independent player," he concluded.