This is CBS Eye on the World.

Here's John Batchelor.

I welcome my colleague and friend Gregory Copley,

editor and publisher of Defense and Foreign Affairs.

Syria, darkness visible.

At this moment, what we know of the Damascus presence,

said to be in some fashion related to the jihadists of Idlib.

However, also in the mix is Turkey,

and it's very effective and famous state security, MIT.

How that all fits together, given that Russia has a naval and air base there,

the U.S. has a deployment in the east of the country supporting our Kurd allies called the YPG.

Israel dominates the Golan Heights, Mount Hermon and the DMZ.

And the unclear message from Damascus is, we're jihadists who've reformed, put on suits,

trimmed our beards, and ready to join the community of nations.

However, I learned from you, Gregory, that Turkey, the neo-Ottomanists of Turkey, have a plan,

and it begins with cutting up Syria, and then it moves right on to becoming a major player in the neo-Ottomania universe.

How so? Good evening to you.

Good evening, John. Well, in fact, this has been

the long-time dream of the Turkish president Erdogan to reclaim the Ottoman Empire,

which includes most of Arabia, much of North Africa, and up into Central Asia and the like.

The reality is that this is highly unlikely, but what he has achieved now is, in fact,

the de facto control of Syria.

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