Beirut—Press reports over the last few days claim that the Obama administration is preparing to announce that Syrian president Bashar al-Assad must step down. However, an official readout from the president’s conversation with Turkish prime minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan this afternoon suggests something else. Obama and Erdogan, the statement reads, “further agreed to closely monitor the actions that the Syrian government is taking, and to consult closely in the days ahead.” It seems that the Turks, who have been running the administration’s Syria policy, have convinced Obama to walk it back some.

No doubt Ankara played up the administration’s fears: Obama is uncertain about what follows the current regime in Syria. The White House is frustrated with the state of the opposition in exile, disorganized, fractious, and unprepared. However, in the end, Washington will have at best an auxiliary role in shaping post-Assad Syria. The White House says that Syrians will have to shape their future, but seems unable to get its head around the idea that this is already happening.