Turkish media say Saudi Arabia, Turkey may strike in Syria

Saudi Arabia has seen several instances of deadly violence in recent months, mostly motivated by the sectarian strife between the dominant Sunnis and the Shiite minority.

But Saudi Arabia this month offered ground forces to fight Islamic State and Cavusoglu said Turkey and the Saudis would support a coalition ground operation.

Saudi Arabia and the United Arab Emirates already pulled back on their participation in the anti-Islamic State coalition’s air campaign in Syria as the fighting in Yemen intensified.

Given the reversal of fortunes for Turkey, Saudi Arabia, the US, NATO and their allies and mercenaries, what’s next?

Were Saudi troops to deploy to Syria, they could come into direct contact with the military of Iran – Saudi Arabia’s longtime foe in the region, with whom tensions have been rising of late.

Saudi Arabia is leading a coalition of countries conducting airstrikes and ground operations in neighbouring Yemen in support of the deeply impoverished country’s internationally recognised government. “I believe Iran and Saudi Arabia can have shared interests in Syria“. It would not be the first time Russia has claimed it was conducting military exercises while actually preparing for war, and shots have already been fired between Turkish and Russian air forces.

Mass shootings are rare in the kingdom.

The war on IS remained a sidelined priority for the Saudi regime as long as it was engaged in a more important southern war in Yemen. Saudi Deputy Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman, who is also defense minister, announced the new coalition in December.

The Moroccan minister added that he discussed with Al-Jubeir the various aspects of cooperation between the two countries and regional issues with emphasis on the efforts to alleviate the suffering of the Syrian people.

The U.N. humanitarian chief is urging combatants in Syria to ensure “full, sustained and unimpeded humanitarian access” to besieged, hard-to-reach and all other areas of the country.

Mogherini said that in the wake of the nuclear accord, “We have started preparing high-level political dialogue between the European Union and Iran”.

With 2.5 million Syrian refugees already in Turkey and European leaders urging Turkey to accommodate them rather than allow them to head to western Europe, Ankara is urging North Atlantic Treaty Organisation to patrol the waters off its Mediterranean shore to prevent human traffickers from smuggling refugees to Greece.

The Saudi army has not had extensive experience in fighting on the ground beyond its own borders and may find itself in serious trouble should its leadership decide to venture into Syria.

“We will push as much as we can to ensure that the political process works”.