Dimitar Bechev
Russia has reportedly asked Turkey for assistance in withdrawing its troops from Syria. Mere weeks ago, such a headline would have been hard to imagine. Yet in the wake of the jaw-dropping collapse of Bashar al-Assad’s regime, the report by CNN Türk has a credible ring to it.
Russian troops stationed in various parts of Syria, such as the central desert and the Kurdish-populated northeast, appear to have returned to Russia’s military bases in Latakia province, and according to GUR, Ukraine’s military intelligence, Russia has been airlifting military personnel and equipment back home.
The fate of those bases — Russia’s Khmeimim airfield and naval facility at Tartus — is a matter of speculation. The Russians may well have no choice but to abandon them, unless they are able to secure a deal with Hayat Tahrir al-Sham (HTS) allowing them to stay on. Russian media have overnight rebranded the Islamist militia that toppled Assad from “terrorists” to “armed Syrian opposition.”
Whatever scenario materializes, one thing is beyond doubt. The power dynamic between Russia and Türkiye has shifted. Now Ankara clearly has the upper hand.
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