Saudi Arabia

Syria is preparing to protect its sovereignty via military force in the event of an invasion by Turkey or Saudi Arabia, the Syrian Ambassador to Russia, Riad Haddad has said.

Saudi Arabia is to host what has been described as the “the largest and most important” military drills in the region’s history. The drills will last for 18 days with contingents from 20 countries, including Pakistan the official Saudi Press Agency (SPA) said. The announcement which was made on Sunday said that participating troops were to begin arriving in “the next few hours” and follows Riyadh’s warning that Syrian President Bashar Assad would be toppled.

On Saturday, the geopolitical world was shocked when Turkey began shelling Aleppo, where the Syrian opposition has its back against the wall in the face of an aggressive advance by Hezbollah and the IRGC supported, of course, by Russian airstrikes.

To be sure, everyone knew Ankara and Riyadh would have to do something quick if they wanted to preserve the rebellion. Their proxies are being rolled up rapidly by Hassan Nasrallah’s army and Vladimir Putin’s air force juggernaut. But few expected the escalation would come so quickly.

Even as all sides - including the US, Russia, Saudi Arabia, and select rebel groups - pretend to be working towards a ceasefire and a diplomatic solution to the five year conflict in Syria, actions speak louder than words, and to put it as succinctly as possible, everyone is still fighting.

It looks like a joint Turkish-Saudi assault on Syria may be imminent. Saudi Arabia has deployed military jets and personnel to Turkey’s Incirlik Air Base in the south of the country ahead of a possible ground invasion of Syria.