On 15 December, Turkiye expressed renewed interest in collaborating with Russia and Syria to counter what it deems extremist groups responsible for prolonging the war and creating instability in Syria. 

Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan said: “We want to take a step with Syria and Russia as a trio. For this, first, our intelligence organizations should come together, then our defense ministers and, then, our foreign ministers should meet.”

Erdogan added that he and his Syrian and Russian counterparts could meet for bilateral talks after his upcoming defense talks with foreign officials, further noting that Russian President Vladimir Putin agreed to the proposal during their latest phone call.

Despite Ankara pushing for joint efforts between the three governments, Erdogan urged Putin to support his plans to establish a 30-kilometer deep “security corridor” along the shared border between Syria and Turkiye, an area governed by Kurdish groups.

The SDF, the People’s Protection Units (YPG), and the Kurdistan Workers’ Party (PKK) have facilitated Washington’s looting of Syria’s national oil throughout the past few years.

Ankara has increased the frequency of its attacks in northern Syria after a terror attack in Istanbul last month, for which the Turkish government holds the PKK responsible.

Recent strikes against the Kurdish forces in Syria are a part of the Turkish military operation Claw-Sword, despite Washington’s diplomatic pressure on Ankara for its ground campaign.

In response, the US authorities disclosed that its forces in Syria would resume combat operations with the Kurdish militants.

While the SDF and the US-led coalition’s operations against ISIS continue, the current Turkish aerial campaign briefly halted all anti-IS operations, with Washington raising concerns about a possible resurgence of the Islamic State group in the region.

The Russian Presidential Special Envoy to the Middle East and Africa, Deputy Foreign Minister Mikhail Bogdanov, was quoted by Turkish media as saying that his country continued to push the Turkish side to desist from initiating the ground action in northern Syria, emphasizing that there have been successes in this regard.