Turkey’s President, Recep Tayyip Erdogan, has claimed that he and Russian President Vladimir Putin “are the only two leaders left” on the world stage, comments that will likely anger his Western allies in NATO.
Speaking on Monday, Erdogan made the remarks after Turkish-backed rebels had helped the Islamist Hayat Tahrir al-Sham (HTS) group remove Bashar al-Assad from power in Syria.
He said: “There are only two of us left among the leaders. Right now, it’s just me and Vladimir Putin.”
Turkish-backed rebels say they have claimed the city of Manbij in northern Syria in an offensive that was separate from the one that forced Assad to flee to Russia.
The city was taken from Kurdish-led Syrian Democratic Forces (SDF), a group Turkey says is a terrorist organisation due to its ties with the Kurdistan Workers Party (PKK) militant group.
Erdogan has tried to ensure that Kurdish groups do not play a substantial role in Syria’s future.
Erdogan is set to be one of the major winners from the downfall of Assad. In Turkey, he has faced pressure because of the 3 million Syrian refugees in the country.
It is now expected that many of them will return to their home country.
Despite Erdogan’s praise of Putin, the fall of Assad is seen widely as a blow to the Russian President.
Assad’s brutal oppression in the wake of the 2011 Arab Spring uprising sparked the civil war in Syria, which lasted for five years.
Russian airstrikes on anti-government forces – including ISIS – played a crucial part in keeping Assad in power.
Iran-backed Hezbollah also helped Assad. However, with Russia distracted in Ukraine and Hezbollah reeling from its war with Israel, Syrian rebel forces were able to launch a surprise offensive and take numerous cities in recent days,
HTS – led by former Al Qaeda militant Abu Muhammed al Jolani – were able to quickly reach Damascus last week.
While many in Syria celebrate, many are also trying to rescue prisoners trapped inside the now-infamous Sednaya prison near Damascus.
Described as a “human slaughterhouse” by Amnesty International, the prison has been subject to numerous human rights abuses – including torture and executions.
The codes for the electronic doors were not left by the prison guards who fled, so Syrians are currently trying to knock their way through to the underground cells where many are still trapped.