The Interminable Syrian War: Europe has Played Herself Right to Where Putin Wants Her

By Nomfundo Ndlwana

Damaged Buildings Line the City of Homs, Syria (Picture: Reuters - Yazan Homsy)

The Turkey offensive in Northern Syria has plunged NATO into a deep crisis. This ill-fated predicament is a product of the passive spectator role adopted by Europe since the primary phase of the protracted Syrian war. While the war initially mimicked yet another pro-reform uprising against Bashar al-Assad during the Arab Spring in 2011, its swift degeneration into the unabating and incredibly dreadful state should have rung alarm bells loud enough to prod Europe to action. But, alas, Europe chose to do nothing. As such, could least apprehend that development of a cogently crafted game plan is indispensable to surcease the war, alternatively, to either avert or mitigate the humanitarian crisis it has inevitably bred. Time has judged Europe’s stance as gravely counterintuitive because it has escalated Putin’s ostensible impudence. Both the historic and current events evidence that Europe has played herself right into the palm of Putin’s hands. It is doubtful that he will relent on squeezing out the last drop of this unheralded perpetual gift.

Except for the intermittent and handy alliance with Erdogan, Putin is the starring of the Syrian war. Even Bashar al-Assad, who is by now adequately inured to his country’s perennial conflict which he has dug in, doesn’t come close enough to match Putin’s pre-eminence. He seems to be basking in the monopoly of this limelight. It’s a one-man show and every move of the erstwhile European spectators revolves around his shots. Recently, Germany passed scathing remarks against the bilateral arrangement between Putin and Erdogan intended to flush the Kurdish fighters away from the Turkey-Syrian border. Germany’s harsh utterances were a reflex to the deployment of Russian troops which did demonstrably augment the ferocious onslaught by the Turkish army against the Kurdish fighters who were abandoned to their demise through Trump’s grand betrayal.

Now Germany strategically wants an internationally run safe zone in Northern Syria, including an international response to the crisis, explicitly stating the resolution of the Syrian war should not be left at Erdogan’s and Putin’s disposal. After a Trump-brokered ceasefire, Putin and Erdogan consented to the withdrawal of the offensive, but, not without Putin warning about its resumption should the conditions of the agreement not be adhered to by the demoralised and battle-weary Kurdish forces. Putin, once more, had his last say, describing the craved internationally administered security zone in Syria as unnecessary. Whatever concessions Putin might place on the table will undoubtedly be a Hobson’s choice for Europe.

Putin is not done with capitalising on Europe’s inaction in the Syrian war. He is yet to fully exploit this ruinous omission. Just as he has done before. Europe can’t bury her head in a sweet deception that Putin did not have a hand when she was dragooned into accepting swathes of Syrian refugees into its borders by Erdogan, including the incessant threats of a prospective repeat. Not only that, more than a year ago, while UN Chemical weapons experts and inspectors from the Organisation for the Prohibition of Chemical Weapons (OPCW) were pressing for access to the Syrian access site in Douma, Russia effortlessly ushered sympathetic journalists right to the site. Russia insisted it had not barred entry of the OPCW to the site. Furthermore, Putin asserted, persistently so, that the videos and pictures of the chemical attack were faked with the assistance of the British intelligence. Putin’s defiance extensively bolstered Bashar’s confidence in his objection to any inspectors coming from US, UK or France. Such a confidence boost added to that which was initially gained when Moscow hosted Bashar on its soil during the height of the war. Such a public display, without a doubt, obstinately asserted Russia as the key player in the Syrian war, without whose involvement there will be no solution. Putin’s status as an invincible star of this show is a creature of Europe. Thanks to Europe whose influence in Syria is essentially non-existent.

Currently, Europe is stuck with dangerous criminals who penetrated her borders when Erdogan engineered their porousness, without any prospects of deporting them back to Syria as it is humanely unsafe to do so. Also, there have been numerous incidences across Europe where such dangerous felons have carried out egregious attacks on European citizens and interests. Even on Wednesday at the NATO summit in London, Merkel painstakingly explained the basis of expelling two Russian diplomats to recompense the killing of a Chechen rebel commander within its borders a month ago. Though Germany admits it issued a visa to the suspect whose application stated a pretentious basis of entering its borders, the fact that Putin was one of the issues discussed at this summit, keeps his name alive on the lips of Europe. More so, Russia has rejected German’s actions as groundless and has promised to retaliate. This diplomatic row happens just a few days before a major Ukraine summit which also involves Russia and the key players in the EU, Germany and France. It could be well assumed that Putin will be laughing all the way to that summit looking forward to stare Europe’s major failures in the Syrian war straight into their eyes. Europe has abrogated its authority to Putin on a silver platter for its grievous omissions in Syria.