Russia is seeking to be the arbiter of two conflicts in the Middle East with Turkey , one in northwest Syria and one in northwest Libya. The US also purposely reduced its role, ending support for the Syrian rebels, allowing Russia, Turkey and Iran to decide Syria’s future, and withdrawing from northern Syria. Neither can Turkey let Idlib fall completely.What Turkey wants is that these weak areas will become totally dependent on Ankara. Turkey can also continue to sell itself to Europe as keeping Syrian refugees from “flooding” Europe, giving Turkey leverage over Europe. And at the base of that leverage is a new Russian pipeline through Turkey, called TurkStream, that both Turkey and Russia want to keep going.

Source: Libya Today December 23, 2019 12:11 UTC