Saudi Arabian military jets could arrive in Turkey in the next few days to carry out missions against the Islamic State (IS) militants group, Turkish Foreign Minister Mevlut Cavusoglu said Saturday. “But we have said yes, we’re prepared to provide special forces as part of the ground operations in Syria”.
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MUNICH (AP) – Jordan’s King Abdullah, Iraq’s prime minister and Saudi Arabia’s foreign minister are among those expected at a conference opening in southern Germany, after diplomats agreed to work toward a temporary “cessation of hostilities” in Syria’s civil war. Russia, itself conducting airstrikes in Syria, has warned of the danger of a “permanent war” protracted by foreign ground intervention. US-allied Kurdish forces are also fighting IS in Raqqa, approaching from the northeast. His Russian counterpart Sergey Lavrov also said that with a ceasefire, access to all besieged areas in Syria, will be secured.
Asked if Saudi Arabia could send troops to the Turkish border to enter Syria, Cavusoglu said: “This is something that could be desired but there is no plan”.
But in Congress, many wondered why the Saudi regime was hinging its resources on the United States making the first move.
“I do not assess that the Saudi ground forces would have the capacity to take this fight on”, Defense Intelligence Chief Lieutenant Gen. Vincent Stewart told Armed Services Committee senators on Tuesday.
“If there is a strategy… then Turkey and Saudi Arabia could enter into a ground operation”, said Cavusoglu, adding that Riyadh was sending warplanes to the Incirlik airbase in Turkey.
Saudi Arabia had already said earlier this month that it was ready to join any ground operation against IS.
Zelyony Dol was only built previous year and this week took part in a massive landing operation exercise to train “holding the coast” while landing troops attempt to take control.
Also speaking in Munich, US Secretary of State John Kerry complained that the vast majority of Russia’s attacks in Syria were against “legitimate opposition groups” rather than IS jihadists. These militias are sometimes fighting on the same side as Al-Qaeda and, in fact, are backed by Saudi Arabia and Sunni nations who got their own interest in Syria.
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In an exclusive televised interview today with CNN’s Christiane Amanpour, Saudi Foreign Minister Adel bin Ahmed Al-Jubeir reiterated Saudi Arabia’s support for a political solution to the crisis in Syria that does not include President Bashar Al-Assad. While some Western leaders have openly called upon Russian Federation to stop supporting Assad with airstrikes, the communique that was agreed upon after five long hours of discussions does not directly mention any downsizing of strikes.
