Arab press: Russia, Turkey adhere to rapprochement, Al-Kazemi has last chance

On Thursday, Arab newspapers have discussed the Russian-Turkish rapprochement, in addition to the Iraqi situation, as well as the Lebanese crisis.

"Russian-Turkish adherence to cooperation"

The beginning of the results of the Russian-Turkish talks and their repercussions on the Syrian issue, and in this context, Al-Arab newspaper said: "International challenges imposed further rapprochement between Russia and Turkey, which will necessarily be reflected in their cooperation in many files, especially in northern Syria."

Analysts say: "International pressure is likely to escalate against both of them in upcoming period, contributing in some way in strengthening cooperation between Russia and Turkey," and analysts point out that "both Ankara and Moscow are looking for an outlet in the other."

And Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov confirmed Tuesday that military cooperation between Moscow and Ankara will continue despite the sanctions imposed by the United States earlier this month on Turkey over its purchase of a Russian-made missile defense system.

This came in the wake of talks with his Turkish counterpart, Mevlut Cavusoglu, in Moscow, in which Lavrov said, "We have affirmed our joint determination to develop our technical and military cooperation."

The Russian minister added that President Vladimir Putin appreciates Turkey's determination to "continue cooperation in this field despite the illegal pressures on Washington."

In mid-December, the United States announced the imposition of sanctions on Turkey, due to Ankara's purchase of the Russian S-400 air defense system.

The Russian-Turkish rapprochement in recent years is not viewed favorably in the West, which sees a NATO member state being armed from a major geopolitical opponent.

Although the two sides avoided speaking at the press conference about northern Syria, however, the two sides declared their adherence to the support of the Constitutional Committee charged with drafting a new constitution for Syria.

Experts say: "The failure to address the issue of northern Syria does not mean that this file was outside the circle of talks, especially since the meeting coincided with a Turkish escalation against the Syrian Democratic Forces in Ain Issa, which overlooks the M4 highway."

There are indications of an implicit Russian-Turkish agreement to put pressure on the Syrian Democratic Forces, to hand over the city to the Syrian army and Russian forces, and observers indicate that what is happening in the region indicates the existence of a division of roles between Russia and Turkey, as the latter pressures on SDF militarily, and the former bargains with it politically.

"Al-Kazemi faces a final test to impose order in Iraq"

Regarding the Iraqi issue, Al-Sharq Al-Awsat newspaper said: “The Iraqi Prime Minister Mustafa Al-Kazemi finds himself facing the final test to impose order and the prestige of the state, and it seems that he found in the leader of the Sadrist movement, Muqtada al-Sadr, a support in the confrontation he is fighting with armed factions accused of bombing the international zone and the headquarters The US embassy in Baghdad. "

It added, "Al-Kazemi needed a political back to provide him with a cover for the confrontation, before he arrested a prominent official of a group to launch rockets. The authorities said that he belongs to the Asab Ahal al-Haq led by Qais Khazali, so he opened a communication channel with al-Sadr to inform him of the intentions of the confrontation, aware of the fragile alliances Between the leader of the Sadrist movement and those who want to confront them. "

Sources say that "Al-Kazemi assigned the head of the National Security Apparatus, Qassem al-Araji (Badr Bloc), to negotiate with the leaders of the factions to reset the truce with US interests in Iraq."

Al-Sadr, for his part, had received negative indications from Shiite party leaders regarding his call for "restoring the Shiite home," and the critical position of Kazemi found an opportunity to use his pragmatic skills to achieve political gains along the path of what the Sadrists say is their strategy to seize power, with a parliamentary majority and headed by the next prime minister.

And what appeared to be a guess has become clear. It is that al-Kazemi and al-Sadr are engaged in a confrontation against political factions and rivals, with different calculations, under great pressure from the American-Iranian tension in Iraq.

Those close to al-Kazemi say that this confrontation "is the last test of strength and the imposition of order, and it will determine the features of the security environment in which the next elections will take place."

Lebanon ... a losing bet on a change that will not come from Washington

In the Lebanese context, Al-Bayan newspaper said: “In the wake of the position launched by the Special Representative of the Secretary-General of the United Nations in Lebanon, Jan Kubitch, in which he reflected a disastrous picture of the Lebanese reality, as he tweeted that the social peace had begun to collapse, security events began to rise, the Lebanese structure was shaking, Lebanese leaders are waiting for the US president-elect, Joe Biden, and the political center has been busy reading the contents of this tweet, from the gate that it came like a reprimand for the authority in Lebanon.

This tweet came in an atmosphere in which no internal political movement had ceased, amidst the increase in the level of talk about the crisis of forming the government, which threatens an open political struggle, whose borders do not stop at the well-known features of the disagreement between President Michel Aoun and Prime Minister-designate Saad Hariri over the formation presented by the latter, but rather exceeds it, to a long stage of the government vacuum.

This is because most of the indicators, positions and leaks went in approximately one direction, and that is there are backgrounds for delaying the formation government until after Biden takes over his powers on January 20.

At the time of the time out, there is a consensus on the insistence of this American waiting theory on putting sticks in the government wheels, amid information that there is nothing indicating that the American policy in Lebanon may record a radical change under the Biden administration, especially as Washington meets with the international community on confronting Iranian influence, fighting corruption, and punishing the corrupt.

On the scale of government formation, meetings and contacts were absent, and the whole process went into a vacation that may continue until next Monday at least, after Hariri left abroad on a family visit, without knowing the course of composition upon his return, in light of the unresolved contract, and the positions that were not It is still the same.

Amidst the fear that the upcoming period, after the New Year, will be more severe with its repercussions on the internal reality, especially if the indications are correct that Iran is in turn behind the braking of the formation of the new Lebanese government, and is mortgaging it through Hezbollah militias and their allies, to see the first preparations of the American Administration what is new in the US-Iranian negotiation file.

This frank and clear international position coincides with what the US State Department spokesperson, Geraldine Griffiths, declared, as she considered that changing the American policy in Syria and Lebanon is not realistic, as "the goals will remain the same, even if the methods of achieving them differ."

T/S

ANHA