North Syria caught between the Turkish hammer, the Russian anvil

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The north of violence has seen violence in the last few days. Regimental forces bombed a hospital Sunday, killing at least six civilians. Fighting between Syrian opposition forces and Turkey and its agents has escalated. Russia is considering bombing a nearby location
Turkish-Syrian border. The rise may be the last-minute scramble to reap benefits before an expected American stop, an expert suggests.

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A hospital in the western city of al-Atareb, west of Aleppo, was taken to a shelter Sunday by a Russian-backed regiment of the Assad regime. At least six civilians were killed, including a child and a medic. A report by the International Rescue Committee, whose partner organization runs the hospital, said the devastation caused by the attack has put the hospital out of commission.

A statement by Syrian opposition group The White Helmets said the attack at the hospital resulted in “a terrorist crime, and a new murder.” The statement also said that “this crime is a continuation of the regime and Russia’s systematic policy of targeting

medical facilities and hospitals, ”and called on the international community to take action against the Assad regime.

Attacks by Russian forces in northern Syria have also been reported. Recent airstrikes carried out by Russian jets in the northern Idlib region, near the Turkish border, have disrupted the stopping of a truck, a cement factory and a gas facility. Local teams had to

to fight fires caused by the attacks.
The region has also seen intense Turkish activity. On Saturday, Turkish jets attacked Syrian Democratic Forces positions in the al-Raqqa region, the first such attack in 17 months, according to the London-based Syrian Observatory for Human Rights.
At the same time, Turkish agents increased their efforts in the province to move forward against opposing forces.

Ilan Berman, senior vice president of the American Foreign Policy Council in Washington DC and an expert on regional security in the Middle East, said Russian and Turkish interests are increasingly at play in northern Syria, leading the recent events. “I think this is

they all look a bit like the Turks trying to use this moment – when the real US strategy toward Syria under Biden administration is not real – to secure benefits, eliminate to opponents and strengthen their position in the north of the country, Berman told the Media Line.

Turkey currently controls large tracts of land in northern Syria, located on their border. The territories were captured in a series of military operations, the last of which occurred in 2019. When Turkey invaded Syria in 2019, following the U.S. withdrawal from the region, Turkish President Recep Erdogan said the activity was against “terrorists in northern Syria” by pro-Kurdish Kurdistan workers; Party Militia (PKK) and Human Protection Units (YPG) and Islamic State (ISIS)

to “prevent the creation of a terrorist corridor over our southern border, and bring peace to the region.”

The Russians, in turn, “want to stay but don’t want to pay,” according to Berman.

The expert says that as the talks on Syria move towards reconstruction, it is in Moscow’s interest to “move that dialogue in with the assumption that the Russians there, they provide the defense force. ” And that is their contribution,

they are not going to contribute in a more economical way. “

Russia has gained a lot from its presence in Syria, which they used as “a kind of springboard for retreat” in the Middle East, Berman said. To maintain its position, Moscow must ensure that Assad ‘s rule remains weak and reliable, and that it will continue to do so

to be a protector. Russia’s recent activity should be understood in this context, he said.
It is likely that the two foreign actors will not go head to head if the current situation continues and if Turkey stands to the north. Both countries want assad to remain weak, allowing them to continue to pursue their own interests in Syria. With this in mind, the Russians
which is “absolutely willing for the Turks to carve a sphere of influence in the north of the country,” according to Berman.

Zvi Magen, a senior researcher at the Institute for National Security Studies at Tel Aviv University, also links the attacks to larger regional power dynamics, but sees these events in the context of ongoing conflict for the control of Syria, which includes Turkey and

Russia is a competitor. The recent rise is “nothing new,” Magen told The Media Line, calling it an “ongoing conflict” that has “the bottoms and peaks, from time to time.”
Recently, however, the fighting has “reached new levels” because “the Turks are unwilling to cooperate,” he said.

Magen said Turkey is hosting rebels who survived the Syrian civil war in the areas it holds and, from there, will launch attacks outside Turkish territories. Russia, for its part, aims to “create order,” forcing the Turkish rebels and defenders to stand.

against these efforts.

Magen also says Russia uses Syria as a base of action in the region. “They are very active in the eastern Mediterranean, the Red Sea and the Gulf, and Syria is the basis for this,” he said. Russia’s efforts to restore order in Syria are part of a larger scale

an effort to become a powerhouse in the Middle East, he said.

Accordingly, the attacks are part of a much larger conflict for regional sovereignty. “It’s a kind of competition between major regional powers over regional influence,” Magen concluded.

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