NEW YORK, October 22 (RIA Novosti) - Escalating US airstrikes on Islamic State (IS) fighters in Syria to include the government of President Bashar Assad, as Turkey wishes, would worsen relations between Washington and Moscow, scholar Christian Emery told RIA Novosti.
“Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan will surely make any Turkish intervention against IS contingent upon Washington directing its firepower against the forces of Syrian president Bashar Assad. This is a deeply unattractive option,” said Emery, an international relations lecturer at Britain’s Plymouth University.
“Unlike IS, Syria has an air force and air defense system that could feasibly shoot down US pilots. Strikes against Assad would plunge relations with Russia to an even further low, and the reaction in Iran would be hysterical, jeopardizing the chance of a successful deal on the critical nuclear issue."
Turkey, a NATO member, is reluctant to send ground troops to fight IS in Syria because of the fear of retaliation from the extremists, and over fears about helping Kurdish fighters across its southern border that have ties with Turkey’s own restive Kurdish population.
IS, which is also known as the Islamic State of Iraq and Greater Syria (ISIS) or the Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant (ISIL), has fought the Syrian government since 2012. It extended attacks to north and west Iraq in June and declared the creation of an Islamic caliphate.
US President Barack Obama says IS can be routed by US-led airstrikes and by bolstering a ground force of Kurds, Iraqis and moderate elements of Syria’s opposition. Critics say he over-depends on air power, lacks reliable allies to act as ground troops and has no strategy for ending Syria’s civil war.
