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Vince Dhimos answered a question at Quora. https://www.quora.com/If-it-is-true-that-EU-was-fulfilling-their-economic-commitments-to-Turkey-why-did-Turkey-open-their-borders-for-refugees-to-cross/answer/Vince-Dhimos Q: IF IT IS TRUE THE EU WAS FULFILLING ITS ECONOMIC COMMITMENTS TO TURKEY, WHY DID TURKEY OPEN ITS BORDERS FOR REFUGEES TO CROSS? Vince Dhimos, Editor-in-Chief at New Silk Strategies (2016-present) A: Turkey is desperate to get the support of the EU and the US in its attempt to control Syrian land that it has entered illegally and improperly (but with tacit acquiescence of the West). In response, trying to at least pretend to support this wayward NATO ally, the US has resorted to its usual bluster and bluffing, making demands on Syria and Russia but remaining impotent to back up these demands with anything concrete, as usual. They are calling the Russian and Syrian air attacks on terrorists “despicable,” but who is really despicable here? The Russians and Syrians did not support terrorists. And unlike the US president, who admits he is in Syria (without an invitation and hence illegally) to “keep the oil,” Russia has not taken anything illegally or improperly. Turkey had stupidly counted on NATO to back up its land grab efforts in Syria with air support. But the entire West knows that this would pit them against Russia and could easily lead to a war with a country that has hypersonic weapons. So no, Turkey must downsize its extravagantly unrealistic expectations. Recently, after Erdoğan held consultations with Russia, he toned down his rhetoric toward Russia and Syria but is taking his frustrations out on the EU using the only lever left in his arsenal — his control over the refugee camps, which he is being paid to maintain and to keep closed until Europe signals that it is ready for more refugees. Now if Europe had effective leadership it would simply withhold payment for Turkish services until such time as Turkey ceased this improper release of refugees, but it probably will not do this because the Western leadership only knows how to bully the weak and Turkey is not weak. If you think this is cowardly and despicable, I will not attempt to disabuse you of that sentiment. But remember, the US-led West is fully responsible for all this chaos because the US and Europe supported the Arab Spring, which saw Western-backed terrorists arrive in Syria as early as 2011 from over 80 countries — heralded as carriers of freedom and democracy by the Western powers. That gave rise to a decade of hell for hapless Syrians and all but destroyed their country— until that naughty Russia intervened in September 2015 and started attcking the terrorists, to the horror of Western leaders who, as became evident, had only been pretending to wage a “War on Terror” (after all, the US keeps bragging about how powerful it is, so how did the less-powerful Russia suddenly steal the show and rout the terrorists?). Now Europe is reaping what it has sown. And the poor things are crying. But yet they didn’t mind a bit that the Syrians were dying, starving, being displaced, watching their country disintegrate for over a decade. In fact, the West has imposed sanctions on the downtrodden Syrians preventing them from acquiring food and medicine (yes, under international law, that is illegal, but look, when you deny people money, they can hardly buy medicine, right?). It never seems to occur to anyone that if the West lifted these sanctions and allowed the Syrians to acquire funds to rebuild, the refugee flood would slow down. What went around came around, as it always does, and the shoe is now on the other foot. For readers unaware of the Western role in promoting terror and chaos in the Middle East, here is a detailed analysis: https://www.quora.com/Are-there-any-sources-for-American-involvement-in-the-Middle-East-since-9-11-It-s-for-a-paper/answer/Vince-Dhimos You may find the above account incompatible with what you have been reading in the daily press releases of the Establishment media. We assume no responsibility for this discrepancy. END ANSWER In today’s news, from Al Masdar SyriaTurkey Syrian Army shoots down another Turkish drone, air defenses target F-16 By News Desk -2020-03-030 BEIRUT, LEBANON (2:30 P.M.) – The Syrian Arab Army (SAA) has shot down another Turkish armed drone over northwestern Syria, today, after targeting the unmanned aerial vehicle (UAV) with its air defense missiles. According to a report from the Idlib Governorate, the Syrian Arab Army shot down the Turkish drone as it was approaching their positions near the strategic city of Saraqib. This is the second drone to be shot down by the Syrian Army in the last two hours and the seventh drone to be shot down in the last two days. In relevant development, the Syrian Arab Army was reported to have targeted a Turkish Air Force F-16 jet with its S-200 system in northwestern Syria. According to Yusha Yuseef of Muraselon News, there was no confirmation on whether or not the missile hit its target. Given the absence of information about the incident, it is very likely that the Turkish Air Force F-16 jet evaded the missile and returned safely to its airspace. More from Al Masdar: Russia uses electronic warfare against intruding aircraft in Syria. Oops! GPS got lost.
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