![\"\"](\"https:\/\/www.turkishnews.com\/en\/content\/wp-content\/uploads\/2011\/11\/SyriaErdogan.jpg\" "\\"RECEP")
<\/p>\nWritten by Ramzy Baroud<\/p>\n
<\/p>\n
When Recep Tayyip Erdogan became Turkey\u2019s prime minister in 2003, he seemed to be certain of the new direction his country would take. It would maintain cordial ties with Turkey\u2019s old friends, Israel included, but also reach out to its Arab and Muslim neighbors, Syria in particular. The friendly relations between Ankara and Damascus soon morphed from rhetorical emphasis on cultural ties into trade deals and economic exchanges worth billions of dollars. Turkish Foreign Minister Ahmet Davutoglu\u2019s vision of a \u2018zero-problems\u2019 foreign policy seemed like a truly achievable feat, even in a region marred by conflict, foreign occupations and \u2018great game\u2019 rivalry.<\/p>\n
The Israeli raid on the Turkish aid ship, Mavi Marmara, in international waters on May 31, 2010, was not enough to erode this vision. The official Turkish response to Israel\u2019s violent attack \u2013 which killed nine Turkish citizens \u2013 was one of great anger, but it hardly resembled what Turkey saw as state-sponsored Israeli piracy in the Mediterranean.<\/p>\n
However, the Syrian uprising in March, the harsh government crackdown on dissent, and the growing militarization of the opposition \u2013 all leading the country down the road to full-fledged civil war \u2013 has forced Turkey to abandon its \u2018zero-problems\u2019 foreign policy. While Turkey had clearly grown impatient with the bloody crackdowns on widespread protests demanding freedom and political reforms, its growingly confrontational attitude towards Damascus was not entirely altruistic either. Considering the exceptionality of the situation throughout the Arab World, Turkey has had to make some difficult choices.<\/p>\n
Turkey\u2019s initially guarded support of NATO\u2019s military intervention against Libya was a litmus test. It proved that Turkey\u2019s membership in the organization, and its regional standing was more important than any foreign policy visions.<\/p>\n
\u201cThe same stunning irony was clear in Turkey\u2019s relations with (murdered President Muammar) Qadhafi\u2019s Libya. Once these regimes faltered\u2026zero problems was likely to look like a bad bet,\u201d wrote Steven A Cook in the Atlantic, on November 18.<\/p>\n
The other \u2018stunning irony\u2019 is, of course, Turkey\u2019s hostile attitude towards Syria\u2019s Bashar al-Assad, once considered by Erdogan to be a personal friend. In fact, the leading role currently played by Ankara to isolate and punish al-Assad would seem like the official \u201cdenouement of the Erdogan\/Davutoglu investment in Bashar al-Assad,\u201d and thus the \u201cend of what has been billed as Turkey\u2019s transformative diplomacy,\u201d according to Cook.<\/p>\n
Despite pressure on Ankara to hasten its isolation of Syria, and subtle insinuations that the Turkish leadership is moving too slow on that front, the language alone tells of near complete foreign policy conversion. In a statement on November 15, Prime Minister Erdogan suggested that al-Assad cannot be trusted.\u00a0 \u201cNo one any longer expects (the Syrian President) to meet the expectations of the people and of the international community\u2026Our wish is that the Assad regime, which is now on a knife edge, does not enter this road of no return, which leads to the edge of the abyss\u201d (Global Spin blog, TIME online, November 16).<\/p>\n
The apocalyptic language can be justified on the basis of an almost inevitable civil war in Syria, and the instability that such a war could create for an already unstable southern Turkish border. More, with regional and international players already vying for the opportunity to exploit Syria\u2019s internal woes, Turkey\u2019s own internal problems could soon be exploited for the benefit of outside forces. Thus, the new Turkish foreign policy appears to be centered on ensuring a position of leadership for Ankara in any future scenario faced by Syria. It\u2019s a remarkable shift \u2013 from a moralistic approach to politics to a crude realpolitik outlook, which may require sacrificing others for the benefit of oneself.<\/p>\n
Political realism is often riddled with ironies. While Turkey once threatened to go to war unless Syria expelled PKK\u2019s Ocalan, it \u201cis now supporting a man, Riad al Assad, whose \u2018Free Syrian Army\u2019 is doing exactly the same across the Syrian border,\u201d according Ankara-based writer Jeremy Salt. Furthermore, \u201cin confronting Syria\u2026Turkey has put itself at odds with Syria\u2019s ally, Iran, whose cooperation it needs in dealing with the PKK\u201d (The Palestine Chronicle, November 18).<\/p>\n
By claiming a position of leadership in the ongoing effort to topple the Syrian government, Turkey hopes to stave off unwanted repercussions from the Syria fallout \u2013 and thus control the outcome of that adventure. This explains why Turkey\u2019s largest city, Istanbul, has played the host of the Syrian National Council, and why the Free Syrian Army, which has launched several deadly attacks on Syrian security installations, is finding a safe haven in Turkish territories.<\/p>\n
Politically, Turkey is also taking a lead role. Its foreign minister, Ahmet Davutoglu, after a meeting with French foreign minister Alain Juppe, called for more international pressure against Damascus. \u201cIf they don\u2019t listen we have to increase pressure to stop bloodshed in Syria,\u201d he said. \u201cBut this pressure should not be unilateral pressure, all the relevant countries should act together\u201d (The Financial Times, November 18).<\/p>\n
What Davutoglu means by \u2018act together\u2019, and which countries are \u2018relevant\u2019 is open to speculation.<\/p>\n
As for acting, Mohammad Riad Shaqfa, the leader of Syria\u2019s outlawed Muslim Brotherhood, offered his own roadmap at a news conference in Istanbul. \u201cIf the international community procrastinates then more is required from Turkey as a neighbor to be more serious than other countries to handle this regime,\u201d Shaqfa said. \u201cIf other interventions are required, such as air protection, because of the regime\u2019s intransigence, then the people will accept Turkish intervention\u201d (Turkey\u2019s Hurriyet, November 17).<\/p>\n
A detailed plan of that envisaged intervention was published in Turkey\u2019s Sabah newspaper on the day of Shaqfa\u2019s comments. According to Sabah, an intervention plan was put forth by \u2018oppositional forces\u2019. Its details include a limited no-fly-zone that progressively widened to include major Syrian provinces and a blockade of the city of Aleppo in the north (Sabah, November 17).<\/p>\n
Considering the escalating violence in Syria, and the palpable lack of good intentions by all \u2018relevant countries,\u2019 Syria is teetering close to the abyss of prolonged civil war, divisions and unprecedented bloodletting.<\/p>\n
\u201cAs negotiator and facilitator between the Syrian government and the internal opposition, Turkey has a role to play,\u201d wrote Jeremy Salt, \u201cbut provoking Syria along the border,\u00a0 lecturing Bashar al-Assad as if he were a refractory provincial governor during Ottoman rule and giving support to people who are killing Syrian citizens is not the way ahead.\u201d<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
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