A quiet meeting this past March in Saudi Arabia, and a recent anonymous leak
from the Israeli military, set the stage for what may be a new and wider war
in the Middle East.
Gathering
in the Saudi Arabian capital of Riyadh were Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan,
newly crowned Saudi King Salman, and the organizer of the get-together, the
emir of Qatar. The meeting was an opportunity for Turkey and the Saudis to bury
a hatchet over Ankara’s support — which Riyadh’s opposes — to the Muslim Brotherhood,
and to agree to cooperate in overthrowing the Syrian government of Bashar al-Assad.
Taking Aim at Assad
The pact prioritized the defeat of the Damascus regime over the threat posed
by the Islamic State and al-Qaeda, and aims to checkmate
Iranian influence in the region. However, the Turks and the Saudis are not quite
on the same page when it comes to Iran: Turkey sees future business opportunities
when the sanctions against Teheran end, while Riyadh sees Iran as nothing but
a major regional rival.
The Turkish-Saudi axis means that Turkish weapons, bomb making supplies,
and intelligence, accompanied by lots of Saudi money, are openly flowing to
extremist groups like the al-Qaeda associated Nusra Front and Ahrar al-Sham,
both now united in the so-called “Army of Conquest.”