Russia signed a long-term agreement Jan. 20 to greatly enlarge its military presence in Syria, more than doubling the space for warships at Tartus [8], Russia's only Mediterranean port, and securing rights to Khmeimim [9] air base, where a second runway is foreseen. The deal came as a Turkish official suggested publicly for the first time that Turkey would accept a Syrian peace deal that would allow Bashar Assad to stay in power. The remarks by the official, deputy prime minister Mehmet Simsek, at the World Economic Forum in Davos, represent a fundamental shift. (NYT [10], Jan. 20) Two days earlier, Russian and Turkish jets carried out their first joint strikes ins Syria, the Russian defence ministry says. Supposed ISIS targets were hit in al-Bab [11], Aleppo governorate, where Turkey suffered heavy casualties last month battling the group on the ground. (BBC News [12], Jan. 18)
In the final hours of Barack Obama's presidency, a US B-52 bomber carried out an air-raid on a presumed Jabhat Fateh al-Sham (ex-Nusra Front) camp, also in the west of Aleppo goveroate, leaving more than 100 dead. (NYT [13], Jan. 20)