Any decision by Saudi Arabia to deploy Special Forces into Syria is linked to the US-led coalition fighting Daesh (the so-called IS), Saudi Foreign Minister Adel Al-Jubeir said on Sunday.
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Over the weekend, Turkey continued to bomb northern Syria, citing needs to counter offensive by Kurdish fighters based in the area. But Turkey says it will not allow the Kurds in Syria to expand toward the Turkish border, as Ankara fears any separatist Kurdish movement in Syria would inspire similar moves in Turkey, where almost 22 million Kurds reside.
After taking part at a security conference in Munich, Mevlut Cavusoglu said Saudi Arabia was “ready to send both jets and troops” to Turkey’s Incirlik air base, Saturday’s edition of the Yeni Safak pro-government newspaper quoted him as saying.
“North Thunder drills represent a clear message that the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia and its brothers and friends of the participating countries stand united to confront all challenges and maintain peace and stability in the region”, the agency said.
“With regard to the timing of the mission or size of troops, this has yet to be worked out”, he added.
U.S. President Barack Obama has ruled out sending U.S. ground troops to Syria.
Despite the territorial advances made in recent weeks by Assad’s forces, backed by Russian air strikes and military assistance by Iran, Jubeir said he did not believe the Syrian president would survive. “Now, he asked for Russia’s help and it will fail in saving Bashar al-Assad”, he said.
Putin noted the need to establish regular working contacts between the defense ministries of the two countries in order to ensure a “systematic and successful” fight against terrorism, said the Kremlin in a statement.
Riyadh also submitted similar request to Switzerland, which was agreed and the country will handle the consular affairs of Islamic Republic and Saudi Arabia in the both sides, the Iranian diplomat said.
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A Saudi-led coalition has been bombing Iran-backed rebels in Yemen since March, further straining ties between Riyadh and Tehran.
