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The Aleppo battle coming on the eve of Turkish President Recep Tayeb Erdogan meeting with Russian President Vladimir Putin in St. Petersburg today, will help Turkey exercise more leverage if the Syrian conflict were to come up in the discussions.
Not only has Turkey bet all its cards against the Assad regime, but it has according to rebel sources, directly helped in facilitating support for the new coalition of rebels and aided in unifying its ranks. This new dynamic will boost Ankara's influence in Northern Syria and in shaping the outcome of the conflict.
The battle in Aleppo is another nail in the Geneva talks coffin. By now and according to the initial timeline, a constitution and transitional elections were supposed to emerge by this fall. Instead, even a loosely defined cessation of hostilities is shattered in Aleppo, Ghouta and in the South. The political process looks no more than a window dressing to buy time as different proxies attempt to change the calculus. A social media narrative has emerged after the Aleppo developments contrasting the failure of Geneva in lifting the sieges with the success of sheer force. This is a dangerous precedent that will further undermine a futile process.
full: http://english.alarabiya.net/en/views/news/middle-east/2016/08/09/A-lesson-from-the-Aleppo-battle-Assad-cannot-win-.html
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