Syrian expert: Russia is protecting Syria to save Iran

By MİNHAC ÇELIK

A prominent expert on Syria has warned that Russia's protection of Syria is built on Russia's close alliance with Iran, saying, “The [most important] reason for Russia to support Syria is its alliance with Iran. If Syria falls, Iran will be the next target.”

Joshua Landis, an expert on Syria and the director of the University of Oklahoma's Center for Middle East Studies, also told Today's Zaman on Thursday that Turkey can “only lose if it invades” the country unilaterally, saying Ankara could quickly find itself in a military quagmire from which it “would not be able to extract itself until the Syrian regime is toppled … and a substitute government assembled.”
Joshua Landis cautioned about the growing Turkish enthusiasm to launch a limited “humanitarian intervention” in Syria, stating that “Syria could become a Vietnam for Turkey.”

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