Will the Turkey/Saudi anti-Assad force draw China-Russia-Iran into a Syrian war?
An Al Monitor report on 8 May revealed that Turkey is planning to invade Syria to set up a buffer zone. This follows much press murmur the previous weeks on a Saudi-Turkey alliance to train the “Army of Conquest”, an anti-Assad force stationed in northern Syria that consists of a witches brew of Al-Qaeda affiliates and various jihadi groups.
On 11 May, China and Russian navies began a two-week war game in the Mediterranean.
![]() |
| Credit: brighthubeducation.com |
In September 2013, when US threatened to attack Assad, Russia deployed its naval fleet off the Syrian coast. China also sent its warships to “observe” the situation—including the Jingganshan, an amphibious-landing vessel that was used earlier that year to stare down smaller nations surrounding the South China Sea.
