Saturday’s attacks on Syrian chemical weapons facilities will not cause a wider conflict as none of the Russian, Turkish or Iranian forces were nowhere near the targeted areas. The attacks are most likely an attempt to secure a better position at the negotiating table, analysts say.
“The attacks took place far from foreign forces,” said foreign policy analyst Denis Avdagic.
“This morning we could see images of Damascus where life goes on as usual. So, it was not a strike on the country, but on the (chemical) facilities,” he said.
Security expert Jasmin Ahic agrees, saying the goal of the airstrikes was fulfilled as planned.
“A coalition of three allies in Syria reacted to what is most important, which is a grave use of chemical weapons against the civillian population,” Ahic said.
“I think this is another case where U.S. power will be strengthened in that area. So, nothing new we haven’t seen before,” said Jasmin Hasanovic, assistent professor at Sarajevo’s Faculty of Political Sciences.
Negotiations to solve the situation in Syria could be a reason for the such a conflict between the foreign powers there, said Journalist Jerko Bakotin.
“To me this seems like a way of strengthening positions for the next round of negotiations,” he said, but added that he finds the position Turkey is in at the moment especially interesting.
“Turkey is formally a member of NATO, but recently, especially if you follow Turkish politics and media, it sounds like they are at war with the U.S.. And they nearly are, in northeast Syria,” he said.
Journalist from the renown Russian newspaper Kommersant, Genadij Sisojev, expects Putin will not retaliate to the same extent.
“I don’t think there will be any drastic or dramatic retaliation from the Russians,” he said. “There may be some political consequences and some contacts could be cut off or some meetings between those countries’ officials cancelled.”
Experts told N1 that, despite the current geopolitical developments and occasional armed conflicts, there is no danger of the conflict spreading outside the Syrian region at the moment.
