Who gives a toss about Russian and Syrian ....... or indeed US terms??
The only terms should be those which enable the Alawite led regime and the North Syrian Federation to enter bilateral dialogue.
Who the F&*^ gives Iran the right to be dictating terms?
For what it's worth, Lavrov's view that it is now time for some extreme figures to resign is correct ...... but I would extend that all parties including the Alawite led regime. Military identities from the Northern Federation and any other armed groups should also be excluded from talks.
No groups will get all of what they want straight away ...... and so Assad needs to replace his ignorant propagandists with some practical realists.
Some realities as I see it:
1. Neither the US nor Russia actually want to be there beyond holding onto a few bases and having a role in O&G redevelopment.
2. Iran seeks to exert ongoing control over the Syria.
3. Turkey will use any provocation from any side as an excuse to annex as much of Syria as possible. Iran is using Erdogan's ongoing stupidity for its own purposes ....... in this case to weld Syria into Iran's block of influence.
4. Erdogan's perceived nemesis isn't actually the Kurds but rather any structure of governance that does not place himself and his family interests at the centre. For Erdogan, creating friction with the Kurds is simply a means to an end that includes a much broader Neo-Ottoman/Islamist/Ultra nationalist-fascist agenda that (for course) keeps him and his family at the centre.
5. Erdogan was terrified that the Northern Federation may have been in a position to reach a "federative" arrangement with key Idlib entities, and of course the Alawite led regime. That is why Turkey has entered Idlib in an arrangement with the more extreme Al Qaeda elements of HTS.
*** 6. The Northern Federation has the Oil & Gas while the Alawite led Regime has access to the Mediterranean. An energy and access agreement needs to be agreed by these parties and perhaps managed through some sort of independent authority (for starters)
*** 7. Syrian interests DO NOT need to CHOOSE between the US, Russia, Iran, Turkey or Saudi Arabia as mentors and protectors. They should leave bi-polar / multi polar politics alone and move on with their own project.
8. It's complicated BUT actually very resolvable.
9. Iran? Iran? If well behaved, Iran has positioned itself to be a ME superpower. The key question is whether or not Mad Mullah Khamenei can maintain control of himself and his extremist followers moving forward. Can Khamenei behave? I doubt it ..... and herein lies the risk of another ME war brewing from the ashes of the ISIS war.
