Turkey's dangerous swing between the United States and Russia

"We are aware of a request - which has been made recently - for Patriot systems, but we understand that no decision has yet been taken", said an American official in a statement collected by the Turkish agency Anadolu. 

The source confirmed that they have received a request from the government of Recep Tayyip Erodgan to deploy two batteries of the Patriot air defence system on Turkey's southern border, at a time when fighting between Ankara's troops and Bachar al-Asad's Russian-backed Syrian army is intensifying in the region of Idlib, one of the country's last two rebel strongholds. The request would have reached the US envoy to Syria, James Jeffrey.

On Thursday, Turkish Defence Minister Hulusi Akar revealed that the United States "could send the defence systems to Turkey to use them as a security tool in the face of the conflict in Idlib". In addition, in an interview with CNN Turk, he confirmed that negotiations with the American giant for the purchase of the Patriot "were continuing".

Previously, a Turkish officer based in Ankara had revealed in Bloomberg that his country was ready to use the military F-16 planes - of American manufacture - that are already integrated in its fleet to attack the units loyal to Al-Asad if the Patriot were deployed in the Turkish border province of Hatay to guarantee the protection of the air teams.

It should be recalled at this point that the request for US support came just a few hours after a new attack by the Syrian Armed Forces, which also involved Russian Su-24 fighters, had claimed the lives of two Turkish soldiers and injured five others. This has taken place after Ankara forces and militias launched an offensive against Syrian positions.

Tension between the two poles - Turkey and the Syrian-Russian axis - has escalated in recent weeks, with direct clashes resulting in deaths on both sides. Thus, it seems that the times when Erdogan and Putin showed the world their good sense are far away. Precisely two months ago, the analyst Santiago Mondéjar assured in Atalayar that "the antagonism between Erdogan and Trump has put Turkey in Vladimir Putin's arms". 

In fact, in the bilateral meeting they held last April, the strengthening of military cooperation was one of the key issues addressed. At that time, the purchase and sale of the Russian S-400 anti-aircraft missile system by Turkey, worth $2.5 billion, had already been negotiated. The supply was scheduled for July and the installation, starting next fall. However, it should be noted that Akar has recently reported that the process will be brought forward, even with the tensions with Russia on the table. "We will certainly activate the S-400 this spring," he said.

This understanding between Ankara and Moscow was not well received by Washington. The US Secretary of State went so far as to declare that the S-400 agreement "threatened the integrity of NATO" and the Pentagon blocked the delivery of a hundred fifth-generation F-35 fighters. In addition, the training program for the pilots was canceled. 

With episodes like this, relations between Turkey and the United States had deteriorated alarmingly. In fact, another reason for the tension between the two powers was the war in Syria, as each supported opposing factions in the contest. Ankara has always been determined to destroy the Syrian Kurdish militias - the People's Protection Units (YPG) - which had fought on the same side as Washington in the fight against the Daesh terrorist organization. Along these lines, it should be recalled that the White House has been postponing sine die the process of withdrawing its troops from Syrian territory so as not to leave the YPG unprotected, in the face of incessant threats from the Erdogan government.

This is why this rapprochement between Turkey and the US is paradoxical. The oscillation between Washington and Moscow could be understood as a new Ankara strategy, which could have unpredictable consequences in the international sphere and, particularly, on the open conflicts in Syria and Libya, where the Turkish leader has already made his ambitions clear. 

"There is no doubt that Turkey is doing everything in its power, and even more, to make it clear to the international community that its geopolitical weight cannot be underestimated", wrote Mondéjar in Atalayar last December.