Three Dictators in One Place: Meeting in Turkey - Erdogan, Putin and Rouhani

[damirUSBiH + 327]

The three leaders will discuss measures to consolidate the truce regime in Syria, ensure the operation of de-escalation zones and address the humanitarian problems in the war-torn country. This will be the second trilateral summit on Syria after Putin, Erdogan and Rouhani met in Russia's Black Sea resort city of Sochi in November 2017. Putin will also hold separate talks in Ankara with Erdogan on Russia-Turkey economic and trade cooperation, particularly in the energy sector, and with Rouhani on bilateral ties and regional issues. These three countries (maybe is better to say, their leaders) are a modern / new version of the Axis of Evil.

[Pavel + 384]

And what about Assad, why he is not in this meeting ... or will be conference call with him ?! Looks like they took Syria under their feet. Any decision issued by them does not include the departure of Bashar Assad and his regime and the return of Syrian people to the Syria.

[franco + 96]

The first thought when I saw the three of them: beware of the snakes...

 

[jpZelabal + 63]

Yep. And in the same time U.S. as President Trump said want to leave the field. And what than? To make a space wide open for three autocrats to impose havoc

[pinto + 293]

I have no doubt that this is a clear signal from the Russians’ intention to become the “go to” power in the Middle East. It’s their next goal and West allies are in defensive position without political vision.

[Petar + 76]

Two of them, Putin -Erdogan have more years on power than Trump, Xi Jinping, Abe,Trudeau, May, Macron, Netanyahu together

Continuous years in power as head of state or government:

Putin: 18
Erdogan: 13
Merkel: 13
Netanyahu: 9
Xi Jinping: 5

Modi: 4
Widodo: 3.5
Salman: 3
Trudeau: 2.5
Turnbull: 2.5
May: 1.5
Temer: 1.5
Trump: 1
Macron: 1

[pinto + 293]

This list is so funny and democratric when you comparison with list of Africa leaders. No election, no votes, no democratic, no rights....

Teodoro Obiang Nguema 37 yrs
José Eduardo dos Santos : 37 yrs
Paul Biya : 34 yrs
Yoweri Museveni : 31 yrs
Robert Mugabe : 29 yrs
Omar el-Béchir : 27 yrs
Idriss Déby Itno : 26 yrs
Isaias Afwerki : 24 yrs
Abdelaziz Bouteflika : 18 yrs

 

[damirUSBiH + 327]

Incomplete list though.
Milo Dukanovic, Montenegro 27 years! Top!!!
Alexander Lukashenko- dictator from Belarus has been in power for more than 20 years (23y)
Kim Jong-un: 6.5

And, Erdogan - 15 y, not 13 y.

In any case, meeting in Turkey could send a bad message to the allies....

[jpZelabal + 63]

Erdogan respects the first principle of autocracy:).... he gives up to three televised speeches a day, in a style that riles up his supporters and infuriates his enemies...

[aspoerl + 28]

1 hour ago, jpZelabal said:

Yep. And in the same time U.S. as President Trump said want to leave the field. And what than? To make a space wide open for three autocrats to impose havoc

Are we still talking about Putin, Erdogan, and Rouhani? Or Bush, McCain, and Obama?

[jpZelabal + 63]

1 hour ago, aspoerl said:

Are we still talking about Putin, Erdogan, and Rouhani? Or Bush, McCain, and Obama?

Maybe I did not use the proper expression: dictators. And maybe I was "not precise": Erdogan, Putin and Rouhani. 

[aspoerl + 28]

1 hour ago, jpZelabal said:

Maybe I did not use the proper expression: dictators. And maybe I was "not precise": Erdogan, Putin and Rouhani. 

I was being facetious. Misguided US foreign policy in the region has contributed to a considerable amount of "havoc". The stated goal of every single US intervention in the region (ie. externally imposed regime change) is one that can never be achieved to any meaningful degree of success. Every single time the local population has been thrust out of the frying pan and into the fire. Putin, Erdogan, and Rouhani are far from saintly, but for the moment, Putin (who is the one ultimately in charge of this cadre), isn't advocating for regime change. And as much as it pains me to admit, that is actually a step in the right direction in terms of stability.  

[jpZelabal + 63]

Are we talking about Putin who has occupied Georgia, annexed Ukraine, about regime which killed and is still killing people with nerve poison, sent activists to jail because their fight for human rights...someone on this forum has been sleeping last ten years?

[damirUSBiH + 327]

There was no military solution to seven years of conflict in Syria, in which 500,000 people have been killed and half the population displaced. Only dialogue could end it, but not dialogue in triangle : Erdogan, Rouhani and Putin. Platform for something that must be more wide, and it's non-sense to give a chance Iranian regime and Turkey-Russian dictators to decide about future of Syria.

[aspoerl + 28]

1 hour ago, jpZelabal said:

Are we talking about Putin who has occupied Georgia, annexed Ukraine, about regime which killed and is still killing people with nerve poison, sent activists to jail because their fight for human rights...someone on this forum has been sleeping last ten years?

Attempting to spin my statement as adulation of Putin is misguided. I think I was quite clear on my feelings towards the group, Putin included. Here is the tough pill to swallow, however: the US can never achieve any sort of lasting stability in the Syria because, and this is key, the current democratically elected government does not want us there and has not invited us to be there. That is simply a fact that the US needs to accept. And if the US is to return to her place in the world as the bulwark of democracy that she once was, she cannot and must not disregard the rule of law, no matter how much she despises the outcome! That is illiberal democracy at best, international autocracy at worst.

Nietzsche cautioned man to be careful to not become the monsters that he fights. Over the last several decades, the foreign policy of the West has unfortunately become one of "the ends justifying the means". This is not to say that the foreign policy of Putin is any more benevolent; it is not. However, if the US wants to continue to claim to be the shining city on the hill for those who yearn to be free and governed by a just set of laws, then our greatest moral obligation is to not devolve to the same autocratic machinations that Putin, Erdogan, et al, utilize. And in the case of Syria that means respecting the sovereignty of another nation that poses no immediate threat the the US or her interests. We must respect this principal, no matter how detestable we may find Assad and the people he chooses to associate with. If we do not, then we will simply become the other side of that autocratic coin, and in the process, surrender the moral high ground that our forefathers fought so hard to defend. 

[aspoerl + 28]

1 hour ago, jpZelabal said:

Are we talking about Putin who has occupied Georgia, annexed Ukraine, about regime which killed and is still killing people with nerve poison, sent activists to jail because their fight for human rights...someone on this forum has been sleeping last ten years?

As an aside, to the assertion that I've been sleeping for the last 10 years, perhaps you don't recall Colin Powell shaking a vial of anthrax at the UN in 2003, as definitive proof that Iraq had militarily viable WMD's. The media ran with it and that was fact; until it wasn't. So to all this bluster about Putin approving the use of nerve agents in London to assassinate a former spy, which Russia had in captivity, and voluntarily returned back to the UK several years ago, perhaps it would be prudent to wait for the discovery of some concrete evidence before we hop back on that bandwagon. I, for one, would rather like to avoid another war based on speculation and conjecture.

[Petar + 76]

Few words about democracy, human rights, equality... Oh,no. Sorry guys. It's a topic for democratic leaders, these guys don't like to talk about that. They prefer some other concept...

[rey + 8]

Attention! Symbiosis of neo-nazi and neo-stalinists took power in Russia. The russian authorities are sponsores all European neo-nazis to destabilize Europe.

[franco + 96]

1 hour ago, rey said:

Attention! Symbiosis of neo-nazi and neo-stalinists took power in Russia. The russian authorities are sponsores all European neo-nazis to destabilize Europe.

Neo-Nazi? I'm not sure. Maybe conspiracy theory..

[rey + 8]

7 hours ago, franco said:

Neo-Nazi? I'm not sure. Maybe conspiracy theory..

Non. Namely aggressive russian neo-nazis, malicious militarists, hidden fascists.

  The propagandistic russian TV constantly insults the western countries and composes xenophobic humiliating fake about them. 

And they deliberately spread around the world such propaganda of xenophobia. Against the xenophobic chauvinistic russian propaganda is necessary to apply the criminal law article on inciting ethnic hatred. 

In addition, with instability in the world, the russians receive additional money from rising oil prices and will invest them in provocations and murders in other countries. It is profitable for them

Edited April 4, 2018 by rey

[rey + 8]

Earlier, the KGB secretly   was preparing Palestinian terrorists for acts of terrorism in Israel. And  probably something like this is being done now for Europe or sponsored by

Edited April 4, 2018 by rey

[Seleskya + 50]

Three dictators in one place? hmmm...

On 4/3/2018 at 1:45 PM, damirUSBiH said:

There was no military solution to seven years of conflict in Syria, in which 500,000 people have been killed and half the population displaced. Only dialogue could end it, but not dialogue in triangle : Erdogan, Rouhani and Putin. Platform for something that must be more wide, and it's non-sense to give a chance Iranian regime and Turkey-Russian dictators to decide about future of Syria.

but I think it's fair to say that human rights abuses aside and speaking only from a geopolitical balance of power perspective, it was most 'peaceful' when Iran/hezbollah/assad controlled Syria fully. There was a sort of understood peace with Israel, a line no one wanted to cross. And let's not forget about the Saudis in this mix. Erdogan is just a megalomaniac. The Saudis are an entirely different beast ...

[rey + 8]

The purpose of Putin in Syria is not to fight against ISIL, but to hold on to the throne the bloodthirsty dictator Assad. Russian punishers are bombing civilians in Syria and troops fighting with both the ISIL and Assad. And almost never bombed exactly ISIL.

This is done only by the Western Coalition

[damirUSBiH + 327]

4 hours ago, rey said:

The purpose of Putin in Syria is not to fight against ISIL, but to hold on to the throne the bloodthirsty dictator Assad. Russian punishers are bombing civilians in Syria and troops fighting with both the ISIL and Assad. And almost never bombed exactly ISIL.

This is done only by the Western Coalition

A withdrawal of our limited forces in Syria now is not in our interests. It would empower ISIS, al-Qaeda, Iran, Bashar al-Assad, and Putin, while encouraging more of Assad's mass atrocities against Syrians, increased refugee flows, terrorist expansion, and general instability. Nothing less important. That's what happened to Iraq. The locals told the U.S. forces that were there that as soon as the troops left, Al Qaeda and the rest would move in. And, they did. Hundreds of millions of rebuilding efforts out forth by US military we're destroyed....

[rey + 8]

  it is the russian bandits that benefit from the instability and wars in the Middle East. They get extra profit from this for oil