RPT - Ex-UK Ambassador To Syria Says Rapid Roll-Out Of US Patriot Systems In Turkey Unrealistic

MOSCOW (UrduPoint News / Sputnik - 22nd February, 2020) Even if the US agrees to provide Turkey with the Patriot air defense systems it has requested for its operation in Syria's Idlib, the deployment would not be completed right away, former UK Ambassador to Syria Peter Ford told Sputnik, adding that Turkey is likely to pull out of the province soon, without establishing control of the skies.

Bloomberg reported on Thursday that Turkey had requested two Patriot missile-defense batteries from the United States to repel Syrian troops backed by the Russian air force in Idlib. Ankara has asked the US to deploy the batteries to Turkey's southern border in order to "punish any future attacks by Syrian troops backed by Russian air power." No decision, however, has yet been made in Washington to approve Turkey's request, a Pentagon official told Sputnik on Friday.

"It [the defense systems deployment] will just not be realistic in a red hot emergency situation, you cannot put the batteries of Patriots overnight without training, without proper installation, without targeting and all that. This would take months. This is what I call gesticulation politics. [Turkish President Recep Tayyip] Erdogan is gesticulating, waving his arms to hide the failure of his policy," Ford said.

The UK diplomat also explained that NATO allies would be reluctant to get involved in the escalation between Damascus and Ankara on the latter's behalf.

"I believe there will not be a full-scale confrontation between Turkey and Syria, mainly because of the Russian control of the skies of Idlib. There is nothing that Turkey can do about this, and NATO has no appetite to join a big war on Turkey's behalf. So Turkey will have to withdraw for Idlib I believe," the diplomat added.

The former ambassador when on to say that he doubted Washington would support Ankara. He also said that Erdogan likely asked for the defense systems already knowing that the request would probably be rejected, since in the case of a refusal the Turkish president would have a reason to blame NATO for not helping out its ally.

"He hopes that will protect him in the eyes of Turkish voters. But I do not think it'll work anyway ... The most Turkey can hope to achieve is some face-saving withdrawing of the lines of separation, perhaps the institution of another so-called safe-zone along the border, 10 miles or something modest similar to what has been instituted for the east along Kurdish areas. But I believe that basically the Turkish bluff has been called," Ford said.

Tensions in Idlib, one of four de-escalation zones in Syria, intensified earlier in February after the Turkish Defense Ministry said that its military personnel died in shelling initiated by Syrian troops on Turkey's observation post in the province. The Turkish president pledged to take retaliatory measures if Syria's armed forces failed to stop their operation and withdraw from the areas close to the observation posts by the end of February.

On Thursday, the Russian Defense Ministry said that pro-Turkish militants supported by Turkish artillery had breached the defenses of the Syrian army near the villages of Qmenas and Nerab in Idlib. Russia's Su-24 jet opened fire at the militants, helping the Syrian troops to repel the advancing fighters. The Turkish Defense Ministry later reported that two Turkish soldiers had been killed and five injured in an air attack in Idlib, adding that over 50 Syrians had been killed as a result of return fire.