Gumer Isaev: ‘Not only Turkey and Iran ‘teased’ Russia with a base…’
Will Russia get a military base in Near East?
Russian Air Forces have left the Iranian Hamadan airbase this week. It was planned to operate flights to Syria in order to fight against terrorists from there. Russia had not been allowed to enter Turkish İncirlik, which is still used by NATO. Why did Tehran and Ankara behave so strangely? What hopes does Moscow pin on Near Eastern airbases? Political expert and columnist of Realnoe Vremya Gumer Isaev answers these and other questions in a column that he wrote for our online newspaper.
'Superpower' trend
'Our airbase in Iran' has been almost one of the most popular news topics this week. Indeed, a possibility that Iran will offer its base for the Russian aviation in Syria has been serious political success and recognition of a special, almost a 'superpower' role of Russia in Near East.
Military presence in other parts of the world is a share of few countries and an indicator of a special international importance. The closure of the Russian bases in Cuba and Vietnam in the early 2000s marked the refusal of former imperial ambitions. But today, when 'superpower' has been trendy again and foreign policy success allows to forget about economic difficulties, a possibility of military presence outside the country, especially in one of the hottest regions of the planet, would symbolise a return of Russia to the world politics as a superpower.
'Military presence in other parts of the world is a share of few countries and an indicator of a special international importance.' Photo: vistanews.ru ( Lourdes SIGINT Station)
Vladimir Zhirinovsky, who is famous for eccentric statements, told 'having an airbase in Iran, we, if necessary, will be able to conduct military campaigns throughout Near East'. Many analysts who discussed rosy prospects of the Russian military presence in the Persian Gulf echoed his words.
It seems the issue of military presence has become topical again in the era of changes that Near East has reached. Great Britain announced the construction of a navy base in Bahrein. France and Germany are expanding their geographical presence in Near East. And Russia would like to get something more than unsafe facilities in Syria that was embraced by a civil war…
Neither Hamadan nor İncirlik
But those people who hurried up to be glad about the possible Russian presence in the Persian Gulf faced a disappointment — Russian planes left Iran soon. A serious discussion broke up inside Tehran that demonstrated that some influential political forces are categorically against giving Russia an airbase in Iran. Blame either eastern trickery or naivety of Russian politicians and journalists who were so glad about the new base in Iran but there is no escaping the fact that the Russian aviation won't use Iranian facilities on a permanent basis. The Ministry of Defence of the Russian Federation found nothing better than the announcement that Russian planes left Hamadan in Iran because they reached their goals. Talks about a 'strategic presence' calmed down.
In the context of the 'Iranian incident', we should pay attention that the discussion about 'overseas bases' in the topic of the Russian involvement in Syrian affairs has been frequently raised in recent times. Russian mass media wrote about a possible use of the Turkish İncirlik by Russia not long time ago. This largest military facility located in Turkey is used by NATO troops, as well as by Saudi Arabia and Qatar.
The Turkish Minister of Foreign Affairs told about a possible use of the base in Turkey by Russia as early as July. He did it on the eve of Erdoğan's visit to Russia. In general, such statements sounded even very encouraging in the context of the Turkey-Russia reconciliation and provoked a response in Russia. After the unsuccessful coup in Turkey and the start of colder relations between Ankara and Washington, it seemed Erdoğan would change his political vector. Such figures as Dugin told about drawing a geopolitical line in Eurasia, including Russia, Iran and Turkey…
Kind of pressure on Washington
But the situation of Turkey came to its end as it was expected. The vice-PM of Turkey Numan Kurtulmuş stated Russia can't use İncirlik because it is not a NATO member. It is important to note that Kurtulmuş's statement was made when Joe Biden arrived in Ankara and on the eve of the invasion of the Turkish Army to Syria.
But not only Turkey and Iran 'teased' Russia with a base. The former Yemen President Saleh told that Russia would possibly be given facilities in Yemen. If only he were the acting President, not former…
Much as the offers to place military resources in other countries might flatter Russia, it is necessary to understand they often are a kind of blackmail of the USA for near eastern countries.