Turkey- Putin begins withdrawing Russian forces from Syria

(MENAFN- The Journal Of Turkish Weekly) Russian President Vladimir Putin declared that Russia has decided to reduce the amount of its forces in Syria from Tuesday onward. Russian News Agency TASS quoted Putin as saying “I think that the tasks set to the Defense Ministry are generally fulfilled. That is why I order to begin withdrawal of most of our military group from Syria starting from tomorrow.” Nonetheless Russia’s decision to withdrawal most of its forces from Syria does not mean that it will abandon its naval base in Tarsus Syria which provides Russia the opportunity to be a crucial power and to operate in the Mediterranean and Middle East.

The Russian military intervention in the Syrian Civil War lasted for five and a half months from 30 September 2015 to 14 March 2016. At the request of Bashar Assad Russia began to launch airstrikes in Syria albeit under the pretext of fighting against the Islamic State and other jihadist terrorist organizations in the region. On the one hand the US-led coalition Turkey and Europe have all accused Moscow of supporting the Assad regime by targeting moderate groups that are opposing regime; on the other hand the Russian Defense Ministry tried to justify its actions in Syria by claiming that its air force had hit mostly terrorist targets in the region including Aleppo Latakia Hama and Homs.

The ultimate goal: Russia’s desire for warm-waters

Apart from the goal of protecting Assad from being overthrown in Syria ports especially warm-water ports in Syria have occupied a central place in Russia’s recent foreign policy calculations. It is believed that by gaining control of ports in the Mediterranean Russia could acquire greater influence in the Middle East. Yet this has not always been the case as illustrated by the fact that since the days of Catherina the Great the idea of capturing warm-water ports off the Black Sea often caused conflict and confrontation between Russia and the Ottoman Empire.

Russia’s never ending ambitions for a naval base in the Mediterranean came to fruition during the Cold War as the Soviet Union was granted a naval base in the city of Tarsus on Syria’s western coast. The Syrian-Soviet alliance was a well-known reality in 1971 as Bashar Assad’s father Hafez al-Assad rose to power. Although Russian access to naval bases became difficult after the fall of Soviet Union Russia has maintained its naval presence in Tarsus and continued to sell its weapons in the region until today.

Coinciding with the resumption of the Syria peace talks in Geneva on March 14 2016 Putin’s announcement on Russia’s withdrawal from Syria came as a surprise. After the fragile week-long cease fire in Syria the ongoing peace talks in Geneva and Russia’s decision to withdraw from Syria can be seen as glimmers of hope to ending the war in Syria which has now entered its sixth year.

The Russian intervention helped the regime to regain territory consolidate the regime’s power and guarantee Assad’s inclusion in negotiations on future of the country. The question of why Russia made the decision to reduce the projection of its military in the region can be answered by looking to the most recent developments in resolving the Syrian Civil War. Putin achieved his goal of supporting the Assad regime and therewith secured a seat for both himself and Assad at the negotiating table.