Archives Syria - New Eastern Outlook

Washington is changing some of its most reliable military partnerships in the Middle East because it believes states, markets, and diplomacy can deliver what American troops and Kurdish proxies increasingly cannot.

The U.S. State Department has abruptly recalled its ambassador to Turkey, Tom Barrack, who also served as the President’s Special Envoy for Syria and Iraq. This sharp personnel pivot has raised numerous questions: was this decision a consequence of pressure from the Israeli lobby?

Israel’s strike on the old Syrian airbase of Abu al-Duhur, which Turkey had planned to use, is not a routine episode in the Syrian war. It is a signal to Ankara: Israel reserves the right to veto Turkish military presence in Syria. And that changes the rules of the game.